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Cambridge Patristic Texts 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



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Cambribge ^^atris^tic ®exte 

General Editor— A. J. MASON, D.D. 

CANON OF CANTERBURY 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS 

C. F. CLAY, Manager 

LONDON : FETTER LANE, E.C. 4 




NEW YORK : THE MACMILLAN CO. 

BOMBAY \ 

CALCUTTA I MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd. 

MADRAS ) 

TORONTO : THE MACMILLAN CO. OF 

CANADA, Ltd. 
TOKYO: MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA 



ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



EARLY LATIN 
HYMNS 

WITH INTRODUCTION 
AND NOTES 



BY THE LATE 
A. S. WALPOLE, M.A. 



CAMBRIDGE 
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 

1922 



PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN 



PREFACE BY THE GENERAL EDITOR 

MR A. S. WALPOLE died February 20, 1920. A 
few days before his death he sent me all his notes 
for the present book, with the request that I would pre- 
pare the book for publication and see it through the 
press. In some ways this was not difficult for me to do. 
For more than twenty years we had worked at the hymns 
together. Again and again I had been allowed to go at 
leisure through the successive drafts of his commentary, 
criticizing and suggesting, so that I was fairly acquainted 
with his final views on almost every point of interpreta- 
tion. A few notes of my own have been added which 
Mr VValpole had not seen. They are distinguished by 
being enclosed in square brackets. But for the most part 
the book represents what Mr Walpole himself had written 
and approved, and my editorial task has been confined 
to final arrangements and adjustments. 

Nevertheless it is a matter for great regret that Mr 
Walpole did not live to see the work through for himself. 
He was a scholar who had read deep and wide in Latin 
literature. He had taken immense pains over this work. 
In order, for instance, to judge of the authorship of the 
hymns attributed to St Ambrose, he had read through 
the whole of that author's prose works, marking every 
feature of his thought and every peculiarity of his diction 
and style. So he did with other authors. He was always 
learning something fresh to throw light upon the hymns. 
He wrote the whole series out at least half a dozen times 
in his clear, strong hand. So many volumes of his notes 
remain that the chief embarrassment has been to co- 
ordinate them. 



vi PREFACE BY THE GENERAL EDITOR 

In two things I have departed from Mr Walpole's 
intention. The first is in regard to textual criticism. 
I have explained in the section on the Text what resolu- 
tion he had come to, and why it seemed to me unsatis- 
factory. The second point concerns the contents. Mr 
Walpole designed to give in an appendix, without note 
or comment, a number of Latin hymns which did not 
come into the definition which governed his choice of the 
127 here presented. A good many of them were pieces 
of Prudentius, like O sola magnarum urbium and Qui- 
cumque Christum quaeritis, which were not, so far as we 
know, used as hymns in ancient days. Others were well- 
known hymns like Exultet caelmn laudibus, and Alleluia 
dulce carmen, about which it seemed to be necessary to 
explain why they were not in the body of the book. 
Mr Walpole had not made a final selection of those hymns. 
There are also many hymns, particularly in the Irish and 
Spanish books, which both for antiquity, and for intrinsic 
value, would be equally entitled to a place in such an 
appendix, if not in the main collection. It was difficult 
to know where and why to stop. I determined therefore 
to do without the appendix. Readers who wish for those 
hymns can easily find them elsewhere ; and to give the 
bare text of them apart from notes seemed to me of 
doubtful utility. 

A. J. M. 

Michaelmas 1922. 



CONTENTS 



PAGES 

INTRODUCTION ix— xxi 

LIST OF BOOKS REFERRED TO . . . xxii— xxiv 

NOTE ON THE TEXT xxv— xxviii 

THE ANCIENT LATIN HYMNS: 

I. Hilary i— '5 

II. Ambrose i6 — 114 

III. Prudentius 115— 148 

IV. Sedulius 149—158 

V. Ennodius 159—163 

VI. Venantius Fortunatus . . . 164 — 200 

VII. Flavius 201 — 204 

VIII. Anonymous: 

contained (roughly) in the Old Hymnal 205 — 260 

contained (roughly) in the Later Hymnal 260 — 401 

GRAMMATICAL NOTES 402—409 

INDEX OF FIRST LINES 411— 412 

INDEX OF WORDS 413—445 



INTRODUCTION 

Originally the following Corpus Hymnorum was not 
intended to be a selection, but was to include all those 
hymns and just those hymns that, to the best of my 
judgment, were not only written but also sung in church 
before about the year of our Lord 600 ; this judgment 
being based on such ancient documents as have come 
within my ken in the course of an investigation carried 
on for more than twenty years. The hymns must have 
been actually sung: otherwise they would have been 
nothing more than sacred poems. And having been 
written at that early period they could fairly be called 
patristic, and so appear in a series of Patristic Texts. 
This has proved to be a good working rule, but certain 
considerations have made it impossible to keep strictly 
to the letter of it in every case. 

For in the first place not all hymns can by the utmost 
stretch of charity be said to be good enough to claim 
admission within a limited space. This may be a truism, 
but its practical result is for our purpose important. 
Thus, while it would have been undesirable to leave out 
Ennodius altogether, it has been deemed sufficient to 
give, by way of a specimen, only one of his laboured and 
unpoetical hymns, the one given as 32 below, lam 
Christus ascendit polmn. In like manner only Squalent 
arua soli puluere miilto has been here printed (hymn 127) 
without its fellow Obduxere polum nubila caeli, although 
both are almost certainly by the same hymnist, and 
ancient, being indeed attributed by Bede to the father of 
church song himself, St Ambrose. There is even a third, 
a war hymn, of Mozarabic origin like these two, Saeuus 



X INTRODUCTION 

■ 

bella serit barbarus horrens, which as being probably 
written by the same poet has a like claim to admission. 

In the next place it is by no means always easy to 
date, even approximately, a hymn of which the writer is 
no longer known to us by name. It would be quite 
impossible to date it exactly. Authorities differ widely 
with regard to these hymns. Let me illustrate this point 
by a few examples. The advent hymn Christi caterua 
clamitat (which I would put in the IXth century) was 
assigned by Mone to the Vth, by Daniel to the XlVth 
century. It is not included in this collection. On the other 
hand Grates tibi lesu nouas, number 12 of my collection, 
which Daniel rightly gave to its author Ambrose, Mone 
unaccountably ascribed to a humanist of the XVth cen- 
tury. Christe cunctorum dominator alme Daniel places in 
the Xllth century, though it is contained in more than 
one MS of the Xth ; as are also Aures ad nostras deitatis 
preces; O sator renim, reparator aeui; Signum crucis 
mirabile ; Verbi patris principium ; all which Daniel 
assigns to the XlVth century. In a field where such 
experienced hymnologists have gone wrong, it is not 
likely that I should always have gone right. 

Then again, we may be able to say more or less 
definitely when a sacred poem, by a writer whose name 
we know, was written, but not when it was sung in 
church for the first time and so became a hymn. Thus 
whereas we can without hesitation give within a year or 
two the time at which Ambrose wrote his hymns and 
when these were set to music and sung, or the date at 
which the Vexitla regis prodeunt of Fortunatus, and his 
other passion hymns, were composed and first chanted, 
we are unfortunately not able to date the incorporation 
of such poems of Prudentius, Sedulius and others, as were 
taken into the service books of the early Latin Church. 



INTRODUCTION xi 

All that in our present state of liturgical knowledge we 
are entitled to say is that this or that hymn was or was 
not included in 'the later hymnal' — a term to be explained 
presently. But this is not very precise, because we do 
not know just when this later hymnal took the place of 
the earlier Benedictine series. The outcome of this is 
that, whereas a line to mark ofif the earlier from the later 
hymns must be drawn at some point, it is bound to be a 
wavy line. When we leave the comparatively safe ground 
of documentary evidence, and when subjective considera- 
tions come into play, difficulties are quite certain to 
arise. For all that however the risk has to be taken. 

[Here Mr Walpole had a paragraph with regard to his 
proposed Appendix.] 

It will be seen that the hymns as arranged in this 
book fall into two wide classes. The first forty are those 
of which we are able with some confidence to name the 
authors, the rest are anonymous or as Daniel calls them 
ahkairoTOL. Some few of these we have ventured doubt- 
fully to assign to some particular man, for instance 
41 Mediae noctis to Niceta, 63 Node surgentes and 70 
Ecce iam noctis to Alcuin. But of the great majority no 
author can be named with any approach to probability. 

But a distinction of more far-reaching import is to be 
drawn between the OLD HYMNAL, viz. that of Bene- 
dict and Caesarius and Aurelian of Aries, being in general 
use during theVIthcentury.and the LATER HYMNAL 
which superseded it and which has ever since, it may be 
said, held the field. Of these we must speak briefly. 

Benedict in the Rule which he wrote for his com- 
munity of monks at Monte Cassino in A.D. 529 prescribed 
the singing of certain hymns at some of the services. 
The pity of it is that he does not give the first lines 
of these, merely saying inde sequatur ambrosianum (or 



xii INTRODUCTION 

hymnus) eiiisdem horae, or hymni earundem horarum ; so 
that it is difificult to say for certain which these hymns 
are. Until recently, liturgiologists agreed to think that 
they were to be found in that body of hymns that are 
contained in practically all MSS later than the tenth 
century and which still survive, most of them doubtless 
in an altered form, in the Roman breviary. However 
Clemens Blume, S.J., in 1908 published a valuable and 
interesting essay^ in which he gave good reasons for 
thinking that this opinion is wrong. His theory is the 
only one that fits and explains all the circumstances, 
and it is now generally accepted by scholars. Caesarius, 
who was bishop of Aries A.D. 503 — 543, compiled two 
Rules, one for monks about the year 503, another for 
nuns in 534. In the former of these he denotes no hymns 
by name, probably, like Benedict, presupposing a know- 
ledge as to which the regular hymns were. But in his 
Regula ad uirgines he usually, although not invariably, 
gives the first line. Thus, for instance, he writes : Ad 
sextant : psalmi sex cu^n antiphona, hymnus Ter hora 
trina uoluitur, lectio et capitellum. And about A.D. 550 
Aurelian, the successor of Caesarius in the see of Aries, 
compiled similar Rules, one for monks, the other for 
nuns. In these he also usually, but not invariably, 
gives the first line of the several hymns. We must 
remember that both these men were contemporaries of 
Benedict, who died at Monte Cassino in 543. 

[The hymns specified by Caesarius are twelve in 
number. They are the following ; the numerals attached 
indicate the place of the hymn in the present collection. 

lam surgit hora tertia (4). 
lam sexta sensim uoluitur (55). 

' Der Cursus s. Benedicti Nursini und die liturgischen Hytnnen des 
6 — i) Jahrhunderts {^Hymnologische Beitrdge, 3er Bd.) Leipzig 1908. 



INTRODUCTION xiii 

Ter hora trina uoluitur (56). 
Hie est dies uerus Dei (10). 
Christe precamur adnue (60). 
Christe qui lux es et dies (61). 
Rex aeterne Domine (42). 
Mediae noctis tempus est (41). 
Aeterne rerum conditor (2). 
Fulgentis auctor aetheris (47). 
Deus qui certis legibus (57). 
Deus creator omnium ($). 

Besides these twelve Caesarius mentions the prose hymns 
Magna et mirabilia, Te Deunt laiuiamus, and Gloria in 
excelsis Deo. 

Aurelian adds two more : 

Splendor paternae gloriae (3). 
Aeterne lucis conditor (46).] 

We now come to the witness of MSS. And here we 
must distinguish between MSS of Irish or English origin 
and all others. There are, so far as is at present known, 
only five MSS extant containing a body of hymns written 
in or before the IXth century not in an Irish or English 
hand. The oldest of these is cod. Vaticanus Reg. 1 1 
written at the end of the Vlllth century. The other 
four, written in the IXth century, are Junius 25 in the 
Bodleian at Oxford, Rheinau 34 in the Kantonal Library 
at Zurich, Paris Bibliotheque Nationale 528 and 14088*. 
A comparison of the Rules of Caesarius and Aurelian 
and of these five MSS gives us a body of thirty-six 
hymns [in all, including the three prose hymns. The 
hymns not specified in the Rules of Caesarius and 

* A MS in the British Museum Vesp. A i written about A.D. 700 contains 
three of the hymns in another but contemporaneous hand ; viz. 3 Splendor 
paternae gloriae, 6 Deus creator omnium, and 42 Rex aeterne Domine. And 
this last is contained in an Vlllth century MS at St Gall. But neither of 
these Mss is a hymnal. 

w. b 



xiv INTRODUCTION 

Aurelian, but supplied by one or other of these MSS, are 
the following : 

Tempus noctis surgentibus (43). 

Deus qui caeli lumen es (44). 

Deus aeterni luminis (48). 

Christe caeli Domine (49). 

Diei luce reddita (50). 

Post matutinis laudibus (51). 

Certum tenentes ordinem (52). 

Dicamus laudes Domino (53). 

Perfectum trinum numerum (54). 

Deus qui claro lumine (59). 

Sator princepsque temporum (58). 

Intende qui regis Israel (6). 

Inluminans altissimus (8). 

Dei fide qua uiuimus (99). 

Meridie orandum est (100). 

Sic ter quatemis trahitur (103), 

Ad cenam Agni prouidi (109). 

Aurora lucis rutilat (m). 

Aeterna Christi munera (15).] 

Of these thirty-six hymns eight are the work of St 
Ambrose (2 — 6, 8, 10, 15). In this body of thirty-six 
hymns we have the old Benedictine hymnal. 

[The Archbishop of Canterbury has called my attention 
to the account of "Augustine's Psalter" given by Thomas 
Elmham^ The book was sent to Augustine by Gregory 
himself in 601 . At the end of the book were hymns, both 
for day and night. They do not altogether agree with the 
lists of Aries. " The first hymn, for midnight, is Mediae 
noctis tempus est; the second, at cock-crow, Aeterne reruin 
coiiditor\ aX rcidXtms, Splendor paternae gloriae \ at prime, 
Venite fratres ocius ; at terce, lam surgit hora tertia ; at 
sext, Bis ternas horas explicans \ at none, Ter hora trina 
twluitur; a.t evensong, Deus creator omnium ; at compline, 

^ Historia Monasterii S. Augustini Cantuariensis (Rolls Series) 1858, 
p. 97. 



INTRODUCTION xv 

Te deprecamur Domine\ in Lent, Christe qui lux es." Be- 
sides these there was a Sunday hymn, Rexaeterne Domine\ 
a Christmas hymn, Intende qui regis Israel; an Easter 
hymn, Hie est dies uerus Dei; a hymn for SS. Peter and 
Vdiu\, Apostolorum passio; and one for St ]ohr\, A more 
Christi nobilis. There are fifteen hymns in all. Among 
them are two, Venite fratres and Te deprecamur, which 
are not otherwise known.] 

But now we notice a most extraordinary phenomenon. 
For excepting some of those by Ambrose, and a few 
others which have survived in their integrity, or in part, 
these Benedictine hymns as it were suddenly and entirely 
vanished from sight, and were at once swept wholly 
away. It is true that the Mozarabic and Ambrosian 
liturgies retained some few of them. But speaking 
generally in all MSS of the Xth century and onwards an 
entirely different set of hymns took their place ; and this 
other set of hymns is found in the MSS of Irish and 
English origin dating from the century before. The new- 
comers, we may say with a rough approach to accuracy, 
are those which in the present book are printed as 62 and 
onwards, but several of the preceding numbers, such as 
20, 21, are included among them. 

In order not to beg the question, by presuming that the 
thirty-six hymns above mentioned are more ancient than 
those which superseded them, or that they really are the 
Benedictine series, let us for the time being denote these 
as the A class, their rivals as the B hymnal. Blume has 
brought forward the most convincing reasons for thinking 
that the A hymns are the more ancient. 

The MSS which contain them are in almost every case 
older, usually much older. No fewer than eight of the 
hymns were the work of St Ambrose : no fewer than 
seventeen are mentioned by either Caesarius or Aurelian 



xvi INTRODUCTION 

or by both bishops. The incompleteness of the series for 
the hours other than Lauds, which is the one office pro- 
vided with a separate hymn for each day of the week, 
points rather plainly to a time when hymn-singing was 
still comparatively undeveloped. In B each day of the 
week has its own proper hymn for Nocturns and Vespers. 
With still greater force does this consideration apply to 
the hymns de communi sanctorum. This section in A is 
represented by the one hymn of Ambrose Aeterha 
Christi munera, this being in honour of actual martyrs 
and given in only one of the five early MSS, — as opposed 
to the full array of the many in commemoration of 
martyrs and confessors, which are included in the B 
series, as given by the IXth century hymnary at Karls- 
ruhe (Augien. CXCV)^ and by virtually all later MSS. 
Now A. Manser has pointed out (in Buchberger's Kirchl. 
Handlexicon I. col. 735 f under 'Brevier') that towards 
the end of the VII Ith century, especially in the Basilica 
of St Peter at Rome, a rich sanctorale developed, and, as 
many saints of the same class were commemorated, 
formed a commune sanctorum,"^. Finally, the Vesper hymns 
of A are part of a night office, belonging to a time when 
Vespers often bore the name oi prima uigilia^. They are 
all prayers for the night, all dwell upon noctis caligo, 5. 1 8, 
fessa curis corpora, 57. 3, sotnnus, ib. 4, 18, nox /wrrida, 
ib. 5 ; all are variations of the prayer expressed in 
Ambrose's Vesper hymn, 5. 17 f : 

ut cum profunda clauserit 

diem, caligo noctium, 

fides tenebras nesciat 

et nox fide reluceat. 

^ The earliest extant MS containing the B hymnal. 

2 See Blume Cursus p. 77. 

3 Blume refers to Baumer Geschichte des Brevier p. 175. 



INTRODUCTION xvii 

The corresponding hymns of B, describing the several 
days of the Creation, make no mention of night or of 
nightly rest. They were written at a time when Vespers 
was a day office, that is to say after the time of Benedict, 
who gave it this new character^ 

Blume still further urges that in A all the hymns ad 
matutinas laudes, with the exception of the Te Detim 
and of Ambrose's Splendor paternae gloriae (the model 
on which the others were formed), were the work of one 
man, as to him seems evident from their interdependence 
in point of thought and phrase. Here I cannot quite 
follow him. The hymns in question are 44 — 50, with the 
exception of 45 Lucis largitor splendide, which is brought 
into the series on fairly strong but subjective grounds, as 
will be seen in the special introduction on p. 224. That 
most of these hymns are like each other and like their 
model is not to be denied. But I can see little or no simi- 
larity to the rest in 44b,48 or 49, with its peculiar rhythm. 
In this case Blume's argument, that the mention of one of 
them (47 Fulgentis auctor aetheris) by Caesarius proves 
that all of them were written by his time falls to the 
ground. Not that this invalidates his main thesis, for 
these very three hymns are amongst the most ancient of 
the series, especially 49 Christe caeli domine with its con- 
stant 'reminders of the Te Deuni. In like manner I do not 
think that Blume is right^ in regarding 44b as an integral 
part of 44, so that here also his deductions are not justi- 
fied; see further, p. 221. 

In spite of the failure of Blume's last argument, we 
may now look upon it as a certain and proved fact that 
the 36 A hymns are the old stock, and may, speaking 

^ [Blume does not give proof of this last assertion, but the Regula shews 
that Vespera was a day office ; see Caput XLi.] 
2 Blume Cursus pp. 92 f. 



xviii INTRODUCTION 

generally, be called the Benedictine hymns, so that the 
inscription of the IXth century MS Rheinau 34 is to be 
taken literally (at least so far as Benedict is concerned), 
and not, as it has been taken, rhetorically : incipiimt 
hymni sancti Ambrosii, quos sanctus Benedictus in diuersas 
horas canendos ordinauit. 

We must not however think that each and all of the 
component parts of the A hymnal were of just the same 
antiquity. Thus the three Lenten hymns for Terce, None 
and Vespers respectively : 99 Dei fide qua uiuimus, 100 
Meridie orandum est, 103 Sic ter quaternis irahitur, are 
vouched for only by three IXth century MSS, as are also 
the Easter hymns 109 Ad cenam Agni prouidi, iw Aurora 
lucis rutilat. These do not belong exclusively to the 
A hymnal, being found also in several later MSS, and 
probably originated in the Vlllth century or not long 
before. 

The A hymnal, theui disappeared from sight, banished 
by its victorious rival B. But by a kind of survival of the 
fittest a very few individual hymns lived on, either in 
this newer hymnal or in those of various lands and 
districts. Especially was this the case with the hymns of 
Ambrose. Thus, for instance, 2, 3, 5, 6, 15 continued to 
be copied in many breviaries and other MSS besides those 
of the Ambrosian rite. Also 61 Christe qui lux es et dies 
lived on for many centuries before it was at last driven 
out and its place taken by 83 Te lucis ante terminum. It 
is to be found in English, French, German, Italian and 
Spanish MSS of every century so long as MSS were written, 
to say nothing of the many printed breviaries, its appear- 
ance in which is noted by U. Chevalier Repertorimn 
Hymn. no. 2934, one of these being as late as 1766. 
Similarly the hymn for the Ninth hour, 54 Perfectum 
trinum numerum, though in the Xth century it was 



INTRODUCTION xix 

restricted to this hour in Lent, with its first line changed 
into what seemed to be a more grammatical shape, 
Perfecto trino numero, lived on in this shape for several 
centuries. Chevalier, under heading 14835, notes its 
presence in several XVIth century breviaries and even 
in one of 1775. Another, 42 Rex aeterne domine has had 
the longest life of all ; for it was mentioned by Caesarius, 
and in the altered form Rex sempiterne caelitum is in the 
modern Roman breviary the Sunday hymn in Eastertide. 

[It is not known how the Later Hymnal (B) came to 
be substituted for the Earlier (A). But Blume throws out 
the suggestion that, as the earliest authorities for this col- 
lection come from England and Ireland, and as Gregory 
the Great was specially interested in the British Isles 
and their liturgical arrangements, Gregory may have 
drawn up the Later Hymnal, and in particular may 
himself have composed the cycle of Vesper hymns con- 
tained in it. This suggestion appears in note i to p. 78 
of the work already referred to {Ctirsus s. Benedicti). 
Blume further elaborated it in a paper Gregor der Grosse 
als Hymnendichter in the Stintmen aus Maria-Laach for 
1908 pp. 269 ft*. He returns to it in Analecta Hymnica 
vol. LI p. xiv. The IXth century, the age of Charlemagne 
and Alcuin, was a time of many liturgical changes. If at 
that period hymns were introduced at Rome into the 
breviary of the secular clergy — till that time they had 
only formed part of the monastic offices — and if tradition 
recorded that Gregory the Great had prescribed these 
particular hymns for the Irish Church, the universal 
spread of these hymns from that time onwards would be 
easily accounted for.] 

We have now spoken of two sets of hymns : viz. A the 
old Benedictine series, and B consisting of those which 
afterwards took their place. There is further a third set. 



XX INTRODUCTION 

the Irish Liber Hymnorum, as they are called by Arch- 
bishop Bernard and Dr Atkinson, who with scholarly 
thoroughness edited them for the Henry Bradshaw 
Society (1868). Blume has also printed them (1908), 
with many valuable remarks, under the title oi Hymnodia 
Hiberno-Celtica in the Analecta Hymnica vol. LI pp. 
264 f. [These are not to be confused with the hymns of 
collection B already spoken of as contained in Irish and 
English MSS.] 

This Irish collection contains hymns i, 41 and 61 of 
the present volume, and from it are taken 107 and 108. 
But, being in general written by native Irish poets for 
Irish singers, it touches at few points the main stream of 
Latin Church song, and so need not here detain us. 

[Much uncertainty still surrounds the early history of 
the Mozarabic liturgy of Spain, and therefore of the 
hymnary connected with it. None of the existing MSS of 
the Mozarabic hymnary seems to be earlier than the end 
of the IXth century, and only one as early as that 
(Toledo 33 — 3; see Hymnodia Gotica^d. Blume, forming 
vol. XXVII of the Analecta Hymnica). The MS is injured, 
and only nine hymns are partly decipherable in it. 
Blume mentions four (or five) other MSS belonging to the 
Xth century. The contents of these hymnaries vary 
strangely from each other. The MS which may be taken 
as a kind of standard is the Madrid MS 1005, as numbered 
by Blume. By J. Mearns {Early Latin Hymnaries p. xx) 
it is numbered ' Nacional kxxdi.' This is printed in 
Lorenzana's edition of the Mozarabic Breviary, reprinted 
in Migne's Patr. Lat. vol. LXXXVI. It contains 176 hymns, 
including Te Deum laudamus. 

Of these 176 hymns it may be noted that eight are 
common to it with what we have called the Old Hymnal A. 
Of these eight five are by St Ambrose ; the remaining 



INTRODUCTION xxi 

three are Certum tenentes ordinem, Christe qui lux es et 
dies, and Mediae noctis tempus est. The MS contains five 
other hymns of St Ambrose. No fewer than thirty-three 
centos from Prudentius occur in it, and six from the 
hymn of Sedulius A solis ortus cardine. A Mozarabic 
book of the Xlth century contains one more hymn of A, 
Christe precamur annue ; and the printed breviary of 
Ortiz (Toledo 1 502) contains six more, but whether they 
formed part of the old Spanish hymnal, or were intro- 
duced into the book by Ortiz, cannot now be ascertained. 
The chief feature of the Mozarabic hymnal is the 
multitude of hymns for the festivals of particular saints, 
largely imitated from Prudentius, but mostly without 
literary merit. The only hymn in the present collection 
directly taken from the Mozarabic hymnal is 127 Squalent 
arua.~\ 



LIST OF BOOKS REFERRED TO 



EDITIONS AND STUDIES OF PARTICULAR AUTHORS 

S. Hilarii Tractatus de Mysteriis et Hymni...quae...deprompsit 

I. F. Gamurrini. Romae, 1887. 
" The First Latin Christian Poet." A. J. Mason {Journal of Theol. 

Studies vol. v), 1904. 

Inni sinceri...di Sant' Ambrogio. L. Biraghi. Milano, 1862. 

Aur. Ambrosius, der Vater des Kirchengesanges. G. M. Dreves. 

Freiburg i. B. 1893. 
Studia Ambrosiana scripsit M. Ihm. Lipsiae, 1889. 
Untersuchungen iiber die Echtheit der Hymnen des Ambrosius. 

A. Steier. (Reprint from Jahrbiicher filr Klassische Philo- 

logie.) Leipzig, 1903. 

Aurelii Prudentii Clementis Carmina recensuit T. Obbarius. 

Tubingae, 1845. 
Aurelii Prudentii Clementis.. .Carmina. A. Dressel. Lipsiae, i860. 
Prudentius in seiner Bedeutung fiir die Kirche seiner Zeit. C. 

Brockhaus. Leipzig, 1872. 

Sedulii Opera Omnia recensuit loh. Huemer (Corpus scr. eccl. 

Lat.). Vindobonae, 1885. 
De Sedulii poetae Vita et Scriptis commentatio. loh. Huemer. 

Vindobonae, 1878. 
Coelii Sedulii Opera. J. Looshorn. Miinchen, 1879. 

M. F. Ennodii Opera. W. Hartel (Corpus scr. eccl. Lat.). Vindo- 
bonae, 1882. 
Fr. Vogel {Monum. Germ. tom. vii). Berlin, 1885. 

Venantii Honorii Clementiani Fortunati opera poetica. F. Leo. 

Berlin, 1881 {Monum. Germ. tom. iv). 
Hymnologische Studien zu Venantius Fortunatus und Rabanus 

Maurus. G. M. Dreves. Miinchen, 1908. 



LIST OF BOOKS REFERRED TO xxiii 

Commodiani Carmina recensuit B. Dombart (Corpus scr. eccl. 
Lat.). Vindobonae, 1887. 

Commodiani Carmina recognovit E. Ludwig. Lipsiae, 1878. 

C. V. Aq. luvencus. I. Huemer (Corpus scr. eccl. Lat). Vindo- 
bonae, 1891. 

Damasi Epigrammata recensuit M. Ihm. Lipsiae, 1889. 

M. Minucii Felicis Octavius. L P. Waltzing. Leipzig, 19 12. 

PHILOLOGICAL 
M. Bonnet. Le Latin de Gr^goire de Tours. Paris, 1890. 
F. Kaulen. Handbuch zur Vulgata. Mainz, 1870. 
H. Goelzer. £tude...de la Latinite de Saint Jerome. Paris, 1884. 
E. Lofstedt. Beitrage zur Kenntnis der spateren Latinitat. Uppsala, 
1907. 

Spatlateinische Studien. Uppsala, 1908. 

Philologischer Kommentar zur Peregrinatio Aetheriae. Upp- 
sala, 191 1. 

C. Paucker. Ubersicht des der sogenannten silbernen Latinitats 

eigenthiimlichen Worterschatzes. Berlin, 1884 [and other 

works of his]. 
A. Regnier. De la Latinitd des Sermons de Saint Augustin. 

Paris, 1886. 
H. Ronsch. Itala und Vulgata (ed. 2). Leipzig, 1875. 
A. Draeger. Historische Syntaxis der Lateinischen Sprache 

(2 vols.). Leipzig, i874f. 
Schmalz. Lateinische Grammatik : Syntax und Stylistik (ed. 4). 

Miinchen, 1910. 
Thesaurus Linguae Latinae editus auctoritate et consilio Academi- 

arum quinque Germanicarum. 1904- . 
Glossarium mediae et infimae Latinitatis conditum a Carolo 

Dufresne Domino Du Cange. Parisiis, 1840. 
Manuale Latinitatis Fontium luris Civilis Romanorum. H. E, 

Dirksen. Berolini, 1837. 

LITERARY AND HYMNOLOGICAL 

Analecta Hymnica Medii Aevi. G. M. Dreves, C. Blume, H. M. 

Bannister. Leipzig, 1886- . 
O. Bardenhewer. Patrologie (ed. 2). Freiburg i. B. 1901. 
C. Blume. Der Cursus s. Benedicti Nursini und die liturgischen 

Hymnen des 6 — 9 Jahrhunderts. Leipzig, 1908. 



xxiv LIST OF BOOKS REFERRED TO 

G. Cassander. Hymni Ecclesiastici. Coloniae, 1556; Parisiis, 
1616. 

U. Chevalier. Repertorium Hymnologicum (3 vols.). Louvain, 
1 892- 1 904. 

J. Clichtoveus. Elucidatorium Ecclesiasticum. Parisiis, I5i5f. 

H. A. Daniel. Thesaurus Hymnologicus (5 vols.). Lipsiae, 1855-6. 

J. Julian. Dictionary of Hymnology. London, 1892. 

J. Kayser. Beitrage zur Geschichte und Erklarung der altesten 
Kirchenhymnen (ed. 2). Paderborn, 188 1-6. 

F. X. Kraus. Realencyclopadie der christlichen Altertiimer. Frei- 
burg i. B. 1882-6. 

P. A. Lipp. Die Hymnen des Cistercienser-Breviers iibersetzt und 
erklart. Wien, 1890. 

M. Manitius. Geschichte der christlich-lateinischen Poesie bis zur 
Mitte des 8ten Jahrhunderts. Stuttgart, 1891. 

J. Mearns. Early Latin Hymnaries. Cambridge, 1913. 

F. J. Mone. Hymni Latini medii aevi (3 vols.). Friburgi Brisg. 

1853- 
J. M. Neale. Hymni Ecclesiae e Breviariis. Oxford and London, 

1851. 
S. G. Pimont. Les Hymnes du Br^viaire romain. Paris, i874f. 
A. Schulte. Die Hymnen des Breviers. Paderborn, 1898. 
R. C. Trench. Sacred Latin Poetry (ed. 3). London, 1886. 
J. Werner. Die altesten Hymnensammlungen von Rheinau. 1 891. 



[NOTE ON THE TEXT 

It has been hard to know how best to deal with Mr Walpole's 
material for the textual criticism of his hymns. The difficulty 
lies partly in the very abundance of the material. This is in fact 
so great, that Walpole at length despaired of giving in full the 
evidence for and against the readings which he adopted. He 
thought that it was impossible to give a complete apparatus, 
because, large as the number of mss which he had inspected 
was, there were many which he had not inspected. Accordingly 
he determined, though with regret, to give only indications of 
a general character. Thus w was to mean that a reading was 
supported by practically all the mss used by him, a by the 
majority, /? by a good many, y by a few, p by later mss. 

This seemed to me unsatisfactory. In itself it appeared too 
vague to be of much use. Walpole had not himself gone through 
much of the book on this system. And it gave no idea of the 
pains which Walpole had spent upon the matter. Besides work 
in English collections, he had travelled repeatedly to France, 
Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Belgium to collate 
MSS. He had received help for the purpose from the Hort 
Fund. He was an unusually skilled and accurate collator. 
I decided to attempt to give Walpole's notes of readings as 
fully as I could, while begging the reader to remember, first, 
that Walpole himself had not revised the apparatus, whereas 
I myself have been unable, except in a few instances, to verify 
his observations ; and secondly, that, as he said, the apparatus 
makes no attempt to be complete, in this sense, viz. that there 
are other mss to consult, which he had no opportunity of con- 
sulting. The student will not be able to dispense entirely with 
the critical notes of Blume and others. 



XX vi NOTE ON THE TEXT 

An even greater difficulty in representing Walpole's textual 
work lies in the fact that he has nowhere left an exhaustive list 
of the MSS which he has used, and that he has used different 
methods of notation in different notebooks. It is sometimes 
hard, even for an expert, — and I cannot profess to be an 
expert in this department, — to make out what MS Walpole is 
denoting by the symbol which he uses in a given book. This 
difficulty would have made me abandon the task of coordinating 
his notes and attempting to reduce them to a system, if it had 
not been for the kindness of the late Rev. J. Mearns. At my 
request he devoted several days to the task of identifying some 
of the MSS, of which Walpole had recorded the readings with- 
out giving any direct guidance to their identity. I wish to 
express my indebtedness to that eminent hymnologist for aid 
which no one else could have given. 

Walpole generally followed a system of notation which is in 
part Mr Mearns's own. In as close accordance with it as cir- 
cumstances admit, I offer the following table of mss. It does 
not attempt to state, as Mr Mearns's Early Latin Hymnaries 
does, where the various mss were written, but for the most part 
only where they are now to be found. The arrangement how- 
ever is not completely logical. Two classes, ' Ambrosian ' and 
' Mozarabic,' represent a different principle ; and some mss 
which properly belong to these two classes will be found under 
other heads than A or M. Here, for convenience, I have taken 
over what Walpole set down. 

A = Ambrosian (Milan), a = Ambrogiana, T 103 sup. (IX, X^). 
b =■ Chapter Library 155 (X, XI). c = Ambr. s.n. iv. 43 (X). 
d = Ambr. A 189 inf. (1188). e = Ambr. A i inf (XII). 
f=Ambr. J 27 sup. (1183). g = Ambr. J 55 sup. (XII). 
h = Ambr. E 71b inf. (XIII). i = Ambr. C 23 inf. k = 
Ambr. H 159 inf. 

B = Belgian. b = Brussels 8860-7 (IX, X). c = Brussels 9845-7 
(IX). 

^ The numbers given thus in brackets give the date or century to which 
the MS belongs. 



NOTE ON THE TEXT xxvii 

E-= English. {< = British Museum, Vesp. A i (VIII). a = Brit. 
Mus. Arundel 155 (XI). c=C. C C. Cambridge 391 (XI). 
d= Durham Chapter B. iii. 32. 8=Durham Rituale. g = 
Jesus Coll. Cambridge 23. h^Brit. Mus. Harl. 2961 
(XI). j = Brit. Mus.JuliusAvi(X). k=C. C.C.Cambridge 
190, l = Brit. Mus. Add. 37517 (X). n = Brit. Mus, Add. 
19768. o = Oxford Bodl. Jun. 25 (IX). r=Brit. Mus. Reg. 
A XX. s = Brit. Mus. Add. 30848. t = Brit. Mus. Add. 
24193. V = Brit. Mus. Vesp. D XII (XI). w = C.C.C. Cam- 
bridge 473. x = Oxf. Bodl. Misc. Lit. 297 (XII). 77 = Brit. 
Mus. Harl. 2928 (XII). /Lt = Oxf. Bodl. 16923 (XI). <^ = 
Brit. Mus. Add. 18301 (XII). i/' = Brit. Mus. Add. 34209. 

F = French, a = Bibliotheque Nationale, Lat. 14088 (IX). 
b = Bibl. Nat. Lat. 13-388 (IX). c = Bibl. Nat. Lat. 1153 
(IX). d = Bibl. Nat. Lat. 103 (about a.d. 1000). e = BibL 
Nat. Lat. 1154 (XI). f=Bibl. Nat. Lat. 14986 (XI). 
g = Bibl. Nat. Lat. 743. h = Bibl. Nat. Lat. 11550 (XI). 
i - Ste Genevieve 11 86 (XI). j - a Jumieges ms at Rouen, 
presumably 231 (A 44). k = Mazarin 512 (X). K = Maza- 
rin 759 (XI). l^Mazarin 364 (about a.d. 1099). m = 
Bibl. Nat. Lat. 1240 (X). n = Douai 170 (X — XII). = 
Amiens 124 (XIII). p = Amiens 131 (XI). q = Paris, St 
Genevieve BBL 8 (1098). r = Rouen 57. s = Bibl. Nat 
Lat. 1092 (XI). t==Evreux 87. u = Evreux 70 (XII). 
v = Evreux 43 (IX). w = Orleans 159 (X, XI). x=Orleans 
345 (XI). y = Chartres 579 (XI, XII). z = Chartres44 
(X, XI). y8 = Boulogne 20 (about 1000). y = Chartres 
121. ^ = Amiens 115 (XII). A. = Paris, BibL Nat. Lat. 
1464. p = Paris, Arsenal 227 (VIII). x = '^nii^"s 112 
(XIII). i/^- Paris, Bibl. Nat. Lat. 528. 

G = German, a = Trier 1245 (X). b = Trier 592 (X). c = 
Munich 16 119 (XI). d = Darmstadt 2106. e= Munich 
14083 (XI). f= Munich 14845 (XII). g = Berlin, Theol. 
IV. II (XI). k = Karlsruhe 91. 1 = Karlsruhe 60. m = 
Vienna, Rossiana viii. 144 from Moissac (X). s = Salz- 
burg IX. II (XII). v = Vienna, Palat. 1825 (XII). x = 
Stuttgart 20, 75. z = Stuttgart 98. )8 = Berlin viii. i (XI). 
/A = Munich 17027 (X). 

H = Helvetian, a = Zurich (Rheinau) iii (X). b = Zurich 
(Rheinau) 91 (about a.d. 1000). c = Zurich (Rheinau) 83 



xxviii NOTE ON THE TEXT 

(about A.D. looo). d = Zurich (Rheinau) 82 (XI). e = 
Zurich (Rheinau) 97 (XI). f=Ziirich (Rheinau) 129 
(about A.D. 1 100). g = St Gall 413 (XI). h = St Gall 414. 
i=:St Gall 387 (XI). k-St Gall 2. m = St Gall 196. 
r = Zurich (Rheinau) presumably 34. /3==Bern 455 (X). 
y = St Gall 577. 8 = St Gall 454. •>; = St Gall 455. ^ = St 
Gall 20 (IX, X). A. = St Gall 95. /x = St Gall 27. <^ = St 
Gall 651. 

I - Italian. {< = the Bangor Antiphonary : Milan, Ambrogiana, 
C. 5 inf. (about a.d. 690). a = Verona, Chapter, 90. 
b = Naples, Nazionale, vi. G. 41 (XI). c = Monte Cassino 
506 (XI). d = M. Cassino 420 (XI). e=M. Cassino 559 
(about 1 1 go). f= Naples, Naz. vi. F. 2 (about iioo). 
g = Rome, Casanatense 1907 (B. 11. i) (about 1000). h = 
Verona, Chapter, cix (102) (XI). i = Verona, Chapter, 
32 (IX). m = Florence, Lorenz., Conv. Soppr. 524 (XI). 
n = Naples, Naz. vi. E. 43 (XI). o = Turin, Nazionale, 
G. V. 38 (XI). p- Turin, Naz. G. vii. 18 (X). t = Turin, 
Naz. F. II. 10 (XI). v = Rome, Vallicell. B. 79 (XI). 

M = Mozarabic. a = Madrid 1005 Hh 60. b = Madrid, Acad. 
Reg. 30. c= Toledo 35 — 3. d= Toledo 35 — 2. e^Toledo 
35 — 6. f = Compostella, Univ. Reg. i. g = London, Brit. 
Mus. Add. 30844. h = London, Brit. Mus. Add. 30845. 
i = London, Brit. Mus. Add. 30846. k = London, Brit. 
Mus. Add. 30851. m = London, Brit. Mus. Add. 30849. 
X = Printed Breviary of Ortiz. 

V = Vatican, a = 83, Ambrosian rite (XI). b = Reg. 338 (XI). 
c=Urbin. 585 (XII). d= 7018 (XI). e=43 (X). h=637. 
1 seems to be the same as d. o = Ottobon. 145 (XI). 
p = 82, Ambrosian rite (X). r = Reg. 11 (about a.d. 705). 
3=7172 (XI). o- = duplicate contained in s. t = 3859. 

No variants are recorded except such as affect the sense, 
nor any which are obviously mistakes, except where they help 
to guide towards the true reading, or some places where they 
shew the character of the particular ms.] 



I 



I. HILARY OF POITIERS 

Hymn i 

[This hymn is taken from the hymnal of the ancient 
Irish Church. The text will be found in the Irish 
Liber Hymnorum edited for the Henry Bradshaw Society 
by J. H. Bernard and R. Atkinson vol. I pp. 36 foil., 
and their Notes upon it in vol. II pp. 125 foil. See also 
their remarks in vol. II pp. ix-xiii, and their translation 
of the Irish Preface in vol. II p. 18. The text will be 
found likewise in Analeda Hymnica vol. LI pp. 264 foil, 
with notes by C. Blume. Blume refers to a paper by 
W. Meyer in the Gottinger Nachrichten for 1 903 pp. 1 88 foil, 
which deals with this hymn. 

The hymn is expressly ascribed to St Hilary (died 358) 
by four of the early MSS containing it. One of these is 
the famous Antiphonary of Bangor, now in the Ambrosian 
Library at Milan, written in the Vllth century. Hincmar 
of Reims in the IXth century twice quotes from it as 
the work of Hilary. Bernard and Atkinson rightly affirm 
that it is 'the one admittedly foreign element' in the 
Irish Hymnal, and add that it 'bears the unmistakeable 
stamp of a totally different system of metrical structure 
and consequently of treatment of the language ' from 
the Latin hymns composed in Ireland. ' This,' they add, 
' is a classic poem ; the others are vulgar Latin.' 

If this estimate of the Latinity requires some modifi- 
cation, the departures from classic regularity are no 
argument against Hilary's authorship. That Hilary com- 
posed a book of hymns is stated by Jerome {de Vir. 
Inlustr. C; cp. Praef. in Galat. II). Isidore of Seville, 
in the Vllth century, says that he was the first composer 



2 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

of hymns in Latin {de Off. Eccl. I, 6). Three long hymns 
of his besides this, though none of them in complete 
condition, are now known. Both in respect of metre and 
in respect of difficulties of expression they bear out the 
attribution of the following hymn to Hilary. (See article 
in Journal of Theol. Studies vol. V pp. 413 foil.) The 
metre of Hymnuni dicat is the same as that of the third 
of the newly recovered hymns, and it is treated with 
similar freedom. Particular phrases in Hymnimi dicat 
recall passages in the three hymns, as well as in the 
prose writings of Hilary. M.] 

The text of the hymn is in places corrupt. All the 
MSS that contain it are ultimately derived from an 
archetype not free from demonstrable errors. See the 
notes on lines 25 and 58. The last few lines in especial 
are confused and troubled, as may be seen from the 
critical notes, and more fully in the Irish Liber Hymnormn 
and in the Analecta, which standard works give a more 
complete apparatus criticus. Bernard and Atkinson think 
it probable that the hymn originally ended with line 66 ; 
but I believe that the next four lines are genuine. The 
repetition to which they object in galli cantus, galli 
plausus is parallel to factor caeli, terrae factor in 9 ; 
cp. lines 20, 59, Hil. Hyjnn. III. 7 gaudet aris, gaudet 
templis (cp. Draeger II. 211 ). The rhyme nos cantantes 
et precantes [and it might be added pane quino, pisce 
bino'] is no more out of keeping with the unrhymed 
character of the hymn than the many instances of a like 
assonance (collected by Trench p. 28 f ) are with their 
surroundings, beginning with Ennius' maerentes, fientes, 
lacrumantes, commiserantes^. The extreme awkwardness 

* Cp. further instances of rhyme from Cato, Livius Andronicus and 
Naevius quoted by Huemer Untersuchungen iiber die dltesten lateinisch- 
christlichen Rhythmen p. 44. 



HYMN I. HILARY 3 

of the passage is removed by the transposition of line 67. 
Maiestatemque inmensam may be impossible, but in- 
mensamque maiestatem is an easy and likely correction. 
It may be granted that turba fratrmn concinnemus would 
furnish a fitting end to a hymn beginning hytnniun dicat 
turba fratrutn ; but so does the mention of 'Christ the 
King' in the last line but one, as in the first line but one. 
And for the absolute end nothing could be more effec- 
tive than the indication of the day close at hand, heralded 
by the cock crowing which had such mystical significance 
to the early Christians, declaring the night to be far 
spent, the day at hand. 'The cock, "the native bellman 
of the night," became in the middle ages the standing 
emblem of the preachers of God's Word, nay, we may 
say of Christ Himself^' 

Bernard and Atkinson object to ante lucem in 65 that 
the preface to the hymn in / says with regard thereto 
nothing about any early morning use, but only: sic nobis 
conuenit canere post prandiiun {Lib. Hymn. I. 35, II. xiii 
and 127). But these words can only be giving the local 
use at or about the time when the MS in question was 
written, which was some 700 years after the writing of 
the hymn, if, as we suppose, it was written by Hilary. 

Lines 71 and 72 however are spurious: 71 is little 
more than a repetition of 70, and we find in yidomifiunt, in 
72 aim eo"^. And without doubt the doxology is spurious. 
As given in most of the MSS it is in iambic, not trochaic, 
rhythm ; though some of these, by writing genitori for 
ingenito try to force it into that metre. It is in fact, as 
Blume points out, identical with the doxology of 41. 

^ Trench p. 249. His whole note there is full of curious and interesting 
information. 

^ [Not that this is much worse than Hil. I/ymn. iii. 10 Inter tania duin 
exultat. M.] 



4 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

[A note in the St Gall MS called e below says that the 
hymn is to be said omni tempore. As it is an early 
morning hymn, this cannot mean omnis horae, like 
Prudentius' Cathem. IX. As Bernard and Atkinson 
point out, it means at any season of the year, not at 
one in particular. M.] 

My critical notes mention only such variants as affect 
the meaning, not matters of spelling and the like. The 
MSS referred to are these : 

a Turin F. IV. i (IXth century). 

b The so-called Antiphonary of Bangor written 
between 680-691 now in the Ambrosian Library at 
Milan, C. 5 inf. 

c The Book of Cerne, Cambridge University Library 
LI. I. 10 (IXth century). 

d St Gall 2 (Vlllth century). 

e St Gall 577 (IXth, Xth century). 

f Trin. Coll. Dublin E. IV. 2 (Xlth century). 

g Franciscan Library, Dublin (Xlth century). 

[I have left the apparatus as in Walpole's writing, 
without attempting to verify his account of the readings, 
which differs in some particulars from those recorded in 
the 'standard' books above mentioned. M.] 



HYMN I. HILARY 



5 



Hymnum dicat turba fratrum, hymnum cantus personet, 

Christo regi concinnantes laudes demus debitas. 

tu Dei de corde Verbum, tu uia, tu ueritas, 

lesse uirga tu uocaris, te leonem legimus. 

dextra Patris, nions et agnus, angularis tu lapis, 5 

I personal c. 2 Christum regem (rege d) de. concinnentes b, con- 

cinentes fg. laudes. ..debita d. 



1. hymnum dicat] dicere cannen 
is a phrase used by Horace Od. i. 
xxxii. 3, Propert. I. ix. 9, while later 
writers freely use dicere in the sense 
of 'singing' ; cp. 106. i, Peregrinalio 
Aetheriae xxiv. 4 dicuntur ymni. 

fratnun is used of the faithful in 
general, as in many passages of the 
N.T. as Acts iii. 17. In line 57 it 
denotes the apostles. In a later hymn 
it would generally mark the com- 
position as intended for monastic 
use. 

2. concinnantes] Festus p. 38 
defines concinnare as apte compotiere; 
and Nonius p. 43 (according to the 
Thesaurus), says recte autem concin- 
nare et consentire intellegi potest 
quasi concinere. This seems to point 
to some degree of confusion between 
the two words. It is especially used 
of literary composition ; cp. line 65, 
Hil. Hymn. in. 2 in caelesti rur- 
sum Adatn concinnamus proelia; 
Analecta Li. p. 305 cantemus in omni 
die concinnantes iiarie; and Vulg. 
Job vi. 26 ad increpandum tantum 
eloquia concinnatis. 

laudes debitas] Cp. Hil. Prol. in 
Psalm. (Migne ix. 239) in quo debi- 
tas Deo laudes unitiersitas spirituum 
prcudicabit ; and in these hymns 15. 
3, 51. 16, 54. 3, 104. 44, 111. 43. 
[The plural (as against laudem debi- 
tam) has the support of Bede de Arte 
Metr. 23.] 

3. 'Thou coming from the Fa- 
ther's heart art called the Word': 
the heart being regarded as the seat 
of the affections, cp. Col. i. 13, 23. 
I, 27. 36, Ambr. de Fide I. 67 audis 



Dei Filitim: aut dele nomen, aut 
agnosce naturani .. .audis cor, uer- 
bum inlellege. ib. 82 ergo et nos cum 
audimus ex utero /ilium, ex corde 
uerbum, credamus quia non plasma- 
tus manibus, sedex Patre natus. Ob- 
serve this adjectival use of the ad- 
verbial clause Dei de corde (unless 
indeed the words belong to the pre- 
dicate, which is perhaps simpler). 

For the emphatic repetition of tu 
cp. the Te Deum and hymns 5. 13 f., 
20. i3f.,21. 9f.,27. 29f., 41. 46f., 
42, 48, 49, 79, sf., 87. 5 f. 

uerbum] Joh. i. r, Rev. xix. 13. 

uia, ueritas] Joh. xiv. 6. The 
final a of uia, coming before a pause, 
is lengthened by the stress falling 
on it. 

4. lesse uirga] Is. xi. i, cp. 
Rom. XV. 12, Rev. v. 5, 38. 13. 

leonem] Rev. v. 5, cp. 4 Esdras 
xii. 3 1 . For the accusative cp. Nicet. 
de Spir. 3 quern nusquam creaturam 
legere poterit. 

legimus] probably perfect, the 
e being long : ' we are wont to 
read. ' Cp. the use of the perfect in 
9. 20. 

5. dextra Patris] Exod. xv. 6, 
Ps. cxvii. (cxviii.) 16 and often in 
the O.T. ; cp. Nicet. de Div. App. 
p. 2 (ed. Burn) dextera...dicitur, 
quia per ipsum uniuersa creata sunt 
et ab ipso omnia continentur. 

mons] Dan. ii. 35. 

ag^us] Joh. i. 29, cp. Is. xvi. r 
(Vulg.), Acts viii. 32, i Pet. i. 19, 
Rev. V. 6. 

angularislapis] 'the corner stone' 
of especial size and strength, set to 



EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 



sponsus idem, el, columba, flamma, pastor, ianua. 
in prophetis inueniris, nostro natus saeculo. 
ante saecla tu fuisti factor primi saeculi, 
factor caeli, terrae factor, congregator tu maris, 
omniumque tu creator, quae Pater nasci iubet, lo 

uirginis receptus membris Gabrihelis nuntio. 

6 el fg, uel libri ceteri. 7 inuenimus nostrum natum seculum d. 

9 caeli et terrae fg. 10 omnia... creasti d. 11 Gabrihele(-li) cde, 

Garaelis a. nuntiat a. 



connect the ends of two walls ; Ps. 
cxvii. (cxviii.) 22, Is. xxviii. 16, 
Mt. xxi. 42, Acts iv. 11, Rom. ix. 
33, Eph. ii. 20, 1 Pet. ii. 6, cp. 119. 
13; Chrysost. Homil. vi. 1066 etrd 
(prjffiv' 6 rb wdv avvixuv iarly 6 
X.pi<rT6i, 6 yap \idos 6 dKpoywviaios 
Kal To^s Tolxovi awix^'- *■<** ■'""'^y 
de/ieXlovs. Prud. Hamart. 489 an- 
gulus hie portae in capite est, hie 
eontinet omnem \ saxorum seriem 
eonstructaqtie liminafirmat. 

6. sponsus] Ps. xviii. (xix.) 6, 
Mt. ix. 15, XXV. I f., Joh. iii. 29, 
cp. 19. 7, 41. 27, 84. 10, 88. 7, 95. 
12. 'The mystical application of 
Ps. xviii. (xix.) to the Incarnation is 
very ancient Found in Iren. adv. 
Haer. iv. 55. 4 and d% 'EwtS. 85 and 
yet earlier in Justin Apol. i. 54, Dial. 
64, 69. See also Tert. adv. Marc. 
IV. II, Cypr. Test. 11. 19.' Yorke 
Fausset on Novatian de Trin. liber 
XIII. 

el] i.e. God, the Hebrew ?}<, cp. 
Oratio s. Adamnani (Irish Liber 
Hymn. i. 184) idem est Hel et Deus. 
The variant uel gives a poorer 
meaning and the pause justifies the 
hiatus. 

columba] Cant. v. 12. 

flanuna] Deut. iv. 24, Heb. xii. 
29; cp. Is. X. 17, Rev. i. 14, ii. 18, 
xix. 12. 

pastor] Joh. x. 1 1. 

ianua] Joh. x. 7; cp. Nicet. de 
Div. App. (p. 3, ed. Burn) ianua 
dicitur quia per ipsutn ad caelorum 
regtia afidelibus introitur. 

7. inueniris... natus] 'art found 



...though only afterwards bom,' or 
' Thou who wast bom art found ' ; 
cp. receptus in 11. 

8. ante saecla] Ps. Ixxxix. (xc.) 
2, Hil. Hymn. i. i ante saecula qui 
manens; the 'Nicene' creed irpb 
ir&vTwv tQv altbvwv ; Ambr. Epist, 
LXIII. 49 ex Patre solo natus ante 
saecula, ex uirgine sola in hoc saeculo. 
And in the Quicumque ' God, of the 
substance of the Father, begotten 
before the worlds : and Man, of the 
substance of his Mother, born in the 
world. ' 

9. factor] Joh. i. 3, rieb. i. 2. 
So the Nicene Fathers hi oi tA 
irdvTa iyivero, rd re iv t<^ ovpavtfi 
Kal TO. iv Tj -yiji.cp. 33. 4, 40. 5, -41. 
5 f., 94. 8. This line and 24 are 
quoted by Bede de Arte Metr. 23, 
to exemplify the trochaic metre, and 
its elasticity. 

congregator] Gen. i. 9 congre- 
gentur aquae, Ps. xxxii. (xxxiii.) 7. 
In classical writers congregare and 
its compounds always denote the 
assembling of persons or animals. 

10. Cp. 49. isf., 60. sf. ; and 
Hil. Hymn. i. 57 foil. Patri sed 
genitus paret, omnemque ad nutum 
attonitus manet, said in connexion 
with creation. 

11. Oabrihelis] The -4, found in 
the best Mss here and at 31. 18 (as in 
Danihel 95. 9, Israhel 6. i, 41. 21), 
represents the N of the Hebrew. As 
nuntius can also mean 'a messenger ' 
the variant Gabrihele nuntio may be 
the reading to adopt. 

nuntio may be an instrumental 



HYMN I. HILARY 



crescit aluus prole sancta ; nos monemur credere 
rem nouam nee ante uisam, uirginem puerperam. 
tunc magi stellam secuti primi adorant paruulum, 
offerentes tus et aurum, digna regi mnnera. 
mox Herodi nuntiatum inuidens potentiae. 
tuoi iubet paruos necari, turbam facit martyrum. 
fertur infans occulendus, Nili flumen quo fluit, 



15 



15 oflfenint ei c*. regis d. 
nuntiato a. inuidit a, inuidus e. 

ablative 'by the message' like uerbi 
...semine, 38. 10 note. 
\i. crescit aluus] 6. 13. 

13. rem] credere takes an ace. of 
the thing believed, as Cic. Div. II. 
13 multa isHus modi dicuntnr in 
scholis, sed credere omnia uide ne 
non sit nccesse. 

uirginem puerperam] Hil. 
Hymn. I. 8 inundo te genuit uirgo 
puerpera. 

14. primi adorant] 'are the first 
to worship'; this distinction really 
belongs to tlie shepherds. 

15. No mention is made of the 
myrrh, which may be because it did 
not seem to be a gift fitting a king, 
but more probably comes from Is. Ix. 
6 de Saba uenient atirmn et tus 
deferentes. In a fragmentary poem, 
ascribed to Hilary by the one MS 
which contains it, St Gall 48, 
giving an account of the birth 
and childhood of Christ, the gold 
is not mentioned; see Manitius, 
p. 102 f. 

regi may be dative after offerentes, 
but is more probably governed by 
digna, 'worthy of a king.' Cp. 
Commodian Apol. 23 Caesari dig- 
nus\ Nicet. 12. 8 dignatn errori. 
If we should with one MS read regis 
we might compare V'erg. Aen. xil. 
649 indigntts auorum. 

For the mystical meaning of the 
gifts cp. Juvenc. i. 250 tus, aurum, 
myrrham, regique hominique Deo- 
que 1 donaferunt; Hil. in Ml. i. 5; 
Prud. Cath. XI I. 69 f., Dittoch. 
105 f.; [Claudian] Epigr. XLIX. 3f. 



16 Herodes e. 
1 7 necare de. 



nuntiatum est c, 
18 quod ad. 



dant tibi Chaldaei praenuntia mu- 
nera reges. \ myrram homo, rex au- 
rum, suscipe tura Dens; Ambr. in 
Liu:. II. 44 aurum regi, tus Deo, 
murra defuncto ; Sedul. Carm. il. 
95 f. aurea nascenti fuderunt mtinera 
regi, I tura dedere Deo, myrrham 
tribuere sepulchro. 

16. 'The fact (the coming of the 
magi) is at once made known to 
Herod, an event hostile to his 
sway.' inuidens is used for inui- 
dum. This is not satisfactory, but 
seems better than the alternative 
pointing and explanation mox H. 
nuntiatum. inuidens potentiae 
('then he grudging His sway...'). 
Though Herod might be said in- 
uidere Christo potentiam, the dat. 
potentiae seems unlikely; and else- 
where in this poem (see 14 and 41) 
turn (tunc) begins its clause. Per- 
haps however the real explanation 
may be 'grudging (jealous) of his 
own power, he then ' etc. 

17. turbam] We find a like ex- 
aggeration Sedul. Carm. II. 120 
audens \ innumerum patrare nefas, 
puerilia mactat \ milia ; Prud. 
Perist. X. 737 mille in Bethlehem 
...biberunt paruuli; 24. 27, 31. 29. 
See also the editors' note in the Irish 
Liber Ilymnorum. 

18. occulendus] 'that he might 
be hidden.' The gerundive came to 
be looked upon as a fut. pass, parti- 
ciple ; cp. nutriendus in 19, offe- 
rendus in 34, and see Ronsch Itala 
und Vulg. p. 433. 

quo] ' where, ' as at 92. 15, 117. 3 1 . 



EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 



qui refertur post Herodem nutriendus Nazareth, 
multa paruus, muita adultus signa fecit caelitus, 
quae latent at quae leguntur, coram multis testibus. 
praedicans caeleste regnum dicta factis adprobat. 
debiles facit uigere, caecos luce inluminat, 
uerbis purgat leprae morbum, mortuos resuscitat. 
uinum quod deerat hydriis mutari aquam iubet, 
nuptiis mero retentis propinando populo. 
pane quino, pisce bino quinque pascit milia, 



25 



23 fecit bde. 24 uerbo d. morbos ce. 25 deerat] erat c. idris 

(hidris) abfg. motarif, motare d, mutare cMe, motuari g. •26 merrore 

taentis a, maerore tentis c. retentis] retinctis c. propinnando c^f, propi- 
nendum c^, prouinato d. populo] poculo g. 



19. post Herodem] 'after the 
death of Herod,' cp. 36. 17. It is 
hard to say whether Nazareth is in 
the ace. after refertur, or in the loca- 
tive with nutriendus. nutriendus is 
a fut. participle, used similarly by 
Ambrose Hex. vi. 13 matri dedit 
ecclesiae nutriendos. 

20. multa paruus] with refer- 
ence to details given by apocryphal 
gospels, in disregard of Joh. ii. 
II. 

slg^a] (TTj/meia, the usual word for 
miracles in St John's Gospel, ii. 11, 
23 etc., and common elsewhere in 
the N.T. 

caelitus refers to Joh. v. 19 and 
perhaps to Mt. xvi. i. 

21. quae latent] i.e. the account 
of which was not written in our 
gospels ; cp. Joh. xx. 30, xxi. 

25- 

22. praedicans c. r.] Mt. iv. 22, 
xi. I. 

dicta... adprobat] For a particu- 
lar instance cp. Mt. ix. 5 f. 

23. caecos 1. i.] Cp. 10. 6. 

24. uerbis] perhaps with ref. to 
Mt. viii. 8, 16 ; cp. Fort. II. xvi. 
157 quid referam mutts qui uerbo 
uerba dedisti ? 

leprae m.] Mt. viii. 2 f., Lu. 
xvii. 12 f. Cp. note on 9. 



mortuos] Mt. ix. 18 f., Lu. vii. 
1 1 f., Joh. xi. 

25, 26. 'He bids water in water- 
pots to be turned into the wine that 
was lacking.' The many variants 
and the difficulties in metre, con- 
struction, and meaning combine to 
make these lines doubtful, although 
they are in all the MSS ; cf. Irish 
Liber Hymn. il. xi f. We must 
scan uinum quid deerat hydriis or 
uinum qudd deirat hydris, both un- 
satisfactory. Then the sense is 
harsh, whether we read i7iero retentis 
('cut short in wine') or maerore 
tentis (' seized with mourning'); and 
whether we read propinando populo 
or poculo. On the other hand some 
reference to Cana seems most likely, 
though this may have been the reason 
why an interpolater inserted it, 
somewhat after its proper place. 
Dr Mason conjectures mutuari, 
which would make the sense, as 
well as the metre, just a little 
better : ' He bids water to borrow 
(or 'assume') the nature of wine 
that was lacking.' viutare is so ob- 
vious a word in the context that 
copyists would soon get it in. 

hydriis] Joh. ii. 6. 

27. Mt. xiv. 13 f. pane quino is a 
poetical usage. 



HYMN I. HILARY 



et refert fragmenta cenae ter quaternis corbibus. 
turba ex omni discumbente iugem laudem pertulit. 
duodecim uiros probauit, per quos uita discitur, 30 

ex quis unus inuenitur Christi ludas traditor. 
instruuntur missi ab Anna proditoris osculo. 
innocens captus tenetur nee repugnatis ducitur, 
sistitur, falsis grassatur offerendus Pontic, 
discutit obiecta praeses, nullum crimen inuenit. 35 



28 corbibus] coffinos d. 
crassatur d, grauatur e. 



31 luda ab'cd. 



34 grasatur beg, 



28. refert] by means of the dis- 
ciples. The coffinos of one MS 
reproduces cophinos {Ko<plvovs), the 
word used in the Latin and Greek 
of the gospel story and by Juvenc. 
ni. 90, 249, Sedul. Carm. III. 216. 

discumbente] The Jews had 
adopted the Roman custom of 
reclining on couches round a table 
at meals. Here of course the crowds 
lay on the grass. Cp. Mt. xiv. i<) et 
cum iussisset turbam discumbere 
super faeiiutn. 

iugem laudem] *a stream of 
praise.' iugis in itself, being con- 
nected w'nYiiungo, means 'constant,' 
'continuous' ; but it is almost always 
used of 'ever-flowing' water, as at 
8. 28. Bnigmann however (Curt. 
Slud. IV. 148) regards «/^«V(' living') 
applied to water as quite distinct 
from iugis, ' constant.' The ref. 
must here be to Joh. vi. 14. 

30. Mt. X. I f. duodecim is to 
be scanned dvodecim ; Bernard and 
Atkinson recall that in Italian it 
becomes dodici. 

probauit] used as in 57. 
■ uita] Cp. Acts V. 20. 

31. Alcuin Epist. xxxi. (Jaffe 
VI. p. 239) Iudatn...non apostolici 
nominis dignitas a tanti sceleris 
perpetratione cohibuit, qui cognita 
sui sceleris nequitia indignam uitam 
digna mortejinivit, de quo ait Sedu- 
lius : tunc uir aposlolicus, nunc uilis 
apostata f actus {Carm. Pasch. v. 
138). 



32. Mt. xxvi. 38. The mention 
of Annas alone here and in 47 is 
noteworthy and may come from 
Acts iv. 6. 

33. Is. liii. 7, Acts viii. 32. 

nee repugrnans] 'and unresisting'; 
the nee qualifies the participle, not 
the main verb. 

ducitur] 'is carried off as a 
prisoner ' ; a technical term in 
Roman law, as at 9. 14, 32. 12 ; 
cp. Pliny's famous letter (x. 96) 
perseuerantes duct iussi, Ambr. cU 
A'ab. 2 1 uide ego pauperem duci. 

34. ' He is brought to trial and is 
assailed with false charges that he 
may be delivered up to Pilate.' 
sisti is the regular word in Roman 
law for 'standing one's trial,' as at 
Prudent. Perist. il. 53 Laurentium 
sisti iubet. falsis is in like manner 
used in the neuter by Hil. Hymn. 
III. 8 \?)3X2lX\'\ gaudet falsis. grassa- 
tur here and at 38 is passive. Ber- 
nard and Atkinson refer also to the 
Altus Prosator 38 grassatis primis 
duobus seductisq. parentibus. 

35. praeses] The regular repre- 
sentative in the Latin N.T. of the 
Greek -rj-yefiwu, i.e. procurator; cp. 
Mt. xxvii. 2, Acts xxiii. 26, 106. 21. 

nullum crimen] Lu. xxiii. 4. 
Strictly crimen was the charge, 
culpa the offence on which the 
charge was based. But in late Latin 
crimen often means ' guilt, ' ' sin ' ; 
cp. 4. 10, 10. 4 etc. 



lO 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



sed cum turbae ludaeorum pro salute Caesaris 
dicerent Christum necandum, turbis sanctus traditur. 
impiis uerbis grassatur ; sputa, flagra sustinet. 
scandere crucem iubetur, innocens pro noxiis. 
morte camis quam gerebat mortem uicit omnium. 40 

turn Deum clamore magno Patrem pendens inuocat. 
mors secuta membra Christi laxat, stricta uincula. 
uela templum scissa pandunt, nox obscurat saeculum. 

36 turba abe. 37 negandum abce, negatum d. 38 grauatur d. 

40 uincit c. 41 pendens] petens d. inuocans b. 43 uelum d. 

templi libri. pendit d, pendent e*, pendunt abe, pendens c. 



36. Joh. xix. 12. To the usual 
reading turba there are two objec- 
tions : turba does not answer as it 
should to turbis in 37 ; then in this 
hymn (cp. 52), as in these hymns as 
a whole, a collective singular takes 
a singular verb, according to the 
classical usage. 

38. Mt. xxvii. 26, 30. grassatur 
as in 34. 

sputa, flagra] Cp. Hil. Hymn. 11. 
\(> sputus,flagella\ 33. 19, 112. 19. 

39. The final e of scandere is 
lengthened by the stress falling upon 
it, as Hil. Hymn. I. 17 extra quam 
capere potest, 59 et scire non est ar- 
dtium. 

innocens pro noxiis] i Pet.iii. 18. 

40. Heb. ii. 14; cp. \i\\. Hymn. 
II. 17 triumpho morte sumpto a 
mortua; 10. 27 f. 

nicit] conquered once for all, an 
isolated aorist among the present 
tenses. 

41. Mt. xxvii. 46, 50. 

42. ' Death ensues and relaxes the 
limbs of Christ, (loosens) the tight 
drawn bonds,' a case of zeugma. 
Thus we must explain if we keep 
the MS reading, but the correction 
uinculo is decidedly easier, 

stricta] Cp. 33. 15. That hymn is 
much influenced by Hilary. 

uincula] Evidently the writer 
thought that Christ was bound, as 
well as being nailed, to the cross, 
as indeed was often done in crucify- 



ing men ; see Smith Dictionary oj 
the Bible i. p. 673. 

43. * The rending of the veils 
lays open the temple.' There were 
two veils, or rather a double curtain, 
between the Holy Place and the 
Most Holy Place (see Hastings 
Diet. 0/ Bible I v. 714 b), although 
' the veil ' is usually spoken of both 
in O. and N.T. The Most Holy 
Place had no door, so that the rend- 
ing of the veil (Mt. xxvii. 51) would 
lay open that which was never 
opened, and which only the high 
priest might enter, and he only on 
the great Day of Atonement. Cp. 
Sedul. Op. V. 23 tunc illud quoque 
templum tnirabile, plenum religionis 
antiquae, maioris templi culmina 
cecidisse conspiciens...discisso pro- 
tinus uelo nudum cunctis pectus 
ostendit. For the construction of 
uela scissa cp. 29. 9 rescissa sed 
isla seorsum soluunt hominem peri- 
muntque. The variant pendent is 
intolerably weak, and pandunt, to 
be taken in the sense of panduntur, 
gives the wrong sense : it would not 
be the veil that would be exposed. 
The reading /fw/^/z would come from 
the gospel text, the phrase 'the veil 
of the temple' being so common. 
templum is often used in the Latin 
versions to translate va6i, as well as 
oIkos and lepov, cp. Mt. xxvi. 55, 61, 
xxvii. 40, 51. 

nox] i.e. darkness, cp. Ovid Met. 



HYMN I. HILARY 



II 



excitantur de sepulcris dudum clausa corpora. 

adfuit loseph bealus ; corpus myrra perlitum, 45 

linteo rudi ligatum cum dolore condidrt. 

milites seruare corpus Annas princeps praecipit, 

ut uideret si probaret Christus quod spoponderat. 

angelum Dei trementes ueste amictum Candida, 

qui candore claritatis uellus uicit sericum, 50 



After 44 (added by a later hand) regna Christus uictor ingens uastat 
infemalium d. 47 Anna be. 49 timentes d. 50 qui d, qua c, 

quo rell. 



VII. 2 perpetuaque trahens inopem 
sub node senectum \ Phineus. This 
darkness is related Mt. xxvii. 45 
and is alluded to 55. i3f. , 66. gf. 

44. Mt. xxvii. 52. excilare is 
used of awakening Lazarus, Job. xi. 
II. 

45. Joseph] Mt. xxvii. 57, Joh. 
xix. 39. adesse specially means to be 
at hand when wanted ; it was a 
technical term to describe the busi- 
ness of an aJtiocatus. 

perlitum] ' anointed all over.' 
The need of doing this accounts for 
the great amount of myrrh and aloes 
used, Joh. xix. 39. 

46. linteo] the sindone of Mt. 
xxvii. 59. It was used by the Egyp- 
tians in preparing corpses and was 
made of ^vaabs, a kind of flax. 

rudi] ' new, ' the usual meaning 
of the word in late writers, cp. the 
Vulgate of Mt. ix. 16, Mk ii. 21 ; 
Sedul. Carm. i. 294 riidis . . .Icgis ~ 
'oftheN.T.'; Fort. x. vi. i^ posi- 
qtie usus ueteres praemicat aula 
ntdis; Ronsch p. 336 f. 

47. M t . XX vi i . 60 f. princeps —pr. 
sacerdotnm, 'the high priest.' 

48. si] 'whether,' a usage first 
found perhaps in Propert. II. iii. 5 
quaeiebam sicca si posset piscis ha- 
rena \ uiuere ; cp. Mk iii. 2 obser- 
uabant eum si sabbatis curaret. The 
Italian se and French si carry on this 
use. 



probaret] 'accomplish,' 'bring to 
pass,' which would be the best ' proof 
of the truth of His words. 

quod spoponderat] Mt. xvi. 21, 
xvii. 23, XX. 19. 

49. * As they [the soldiers, see 
Mt. xxviii. 4] are trembling at an 
angel.' angelum is governed by tre- 
mentes, which is either nom. or ace. 
absolute, rather than in agreement 
with milites in 47, which would be 
difficult, owing to the intervening 
clauses ut uideret... spoponderat. 

50. uellus sericum] Silk was sup- 
posed to be gathered by the Seres 
(an Indian or Chinese people) from 
trees; cp. Verg. Georg. Ii. 121 [why 
tell] uelleraqtie ut Joins depectant 
tenuia Seres? Plin. Al.JI. vi. 17 
Seres lanitio siluarum nobiles, per- 

fusam aqua depectentes frotuiium 
canitiem\ Ambr. Hex. V. "JT ex his 
foliis mollia ilia Seres depectttnt 
uellera, quae ad usus sibi proprios 
diuites uindicarunt ; in Luc. V. 107, 
Fort. Vita Mart. il. 88, 259. But 
as siik can hardly be said to be 
gathered from trees the allusion in 
these passages is no doubt to a ma- 
terial, possessing many of the pro- 
perties of silk, made from a kind of 
nettle, 'Boehmerianiuea,' which has 
long been used for the purpose in 
China. Silkworms were not known 
in Europe before the time of Jus- 
tinian. 



12 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



demouet saxum sepulcro, surgens Christus integer, 
haec uidet ludaea, mendax haec negat cum uiderit. 
feminae primum monentur saluatorem uiuere, 
quas salutat ipse maestas, conplet tristes gaudio, 
seque a mortuis paterna suscitatum dextera 
tertia die redisse nuntiat apostolis. 
mox uidetur a beatis quos probauit fratribus. 



55 



£1 demouet e, demuit a, demouit rell. sepulchri e. surgens abcfg. 
52 uidet] uidit libri contra metrum. uiderit] abdei, uiderat.g. ^4 con- 
plens d. 56 nuntians cd. 



51. demouet] 'he (the angel) 
moves away,' Mt. xxviii. 2. In strict 
grammar the subject should be 
Christus ; but Christus surgens 
should rather be construed as nom. 
abs. than as equivalent to surgit. 
[This seems to me an unnecessary 
strictness of fidelity to St Matthew's 
narrative. I would rather remove 
the stop after sepulcro, and make 
Christus nominative to demouet. 
M.] 

Integer] 'body and soul.' This 
word was soon to be the Italian 
intero, the French entier, our entire. 
Cp. Hor. Od. II. xvii. 7 nee superstes 
integer; Aetheriae Peregr. xvil. i 
ubi corpus illius integrum positum 
est; ib. XXVIII. 3 fcuere integras 
septimanas ieiuniorum. 

52. ludaea] the Jewish nation, 
as at 116. 25 and probably at 105. 25 ; 
cp. the use of Aegyplus 41. 1 7. The 
comma should come after ludaea, 
not, as in some editions, after men- 
dax, which goes closely with negat. 
The sense is that more fully ex- 
pressed Sedul. Op. V. 25 quidjidem 
niteris explorare, quam non uis, 
etiam cum probarts, admittere? or 
by Ambr. in Ps. XLiii. 6 in ueritate 
uiderunt ludaei [Christum] et non 
crediderunt. 

cum uiderit] 'although it has...,' 
hence the subjunctive. 

53. primum m.] ' are straightway 
told,' or 'are the first to be told,' 
though this would strictly heprimae. 



monentur] 'are informed,' used 
much as in 12. For the sense of the 
line cp. Ambr. in Luc. x. 72 ideo 
mulier resurrectionis accepit prima 
viysterium et mandata custodit, ut 
ueterem praenaricationis abokret er- 
ror em. 

54. Mt. xxviii. 9. maestas denotes 
their display of 'mourning,' tristes 
their sorrow at heart. 

55. Acts ii. 24, 32, v. 31. 

56. tertia die refers to Christ's 
prophecy, Mt. xvi. 21, alluded to at 
48 above. 

nuntiat] ' sends word.' Final -at 
was in early Latin long and may 
have remained so in popular usage. 
In this line the stress also falls upon 
it ; cp. Hil. Hymn. i. 34 uirtus, 
cum dederit omnia, non tamen; ib. 
36 cuncta quae sua sunt, cum dedertt 
habens; II. 22 tremlt et alte. So in 
35 discutit. But as nuntiare is ge- 
nerally used of a messenger carrying 
word, and as we read Mt. xxviii. 8 
[the women] exierunt. . . nuntiare dis- 
ciptdis eius, it is just possible that 
we ought to read nuntiant, in which 
case se is used for ilium; see Irish 
Lib. Hymn. 11. xii. 

57. uidetur] ' is seen,' passive 
(a beatis fr.). 

probauit] as in 30^ cp. 56. 32. 

58. Joh. XX. 19. 'To their midst, 
while they still doubt His having 
returned. He enters.' In late Latin 
^«(7^ gradually gained more and more 
acceptance, taking up at last the 



HYMN I. HILARY 



13 



quod redisset ambigentes intrat clausis ianuis. 
dat docens praecepta legis, dat diuinum spiritum, 
Spiritum Dei, perfectae Trinitatis uinculum. 
praecipit totum per orbem baptizare credulos, 



60 



58 quos de. redisse e. ianuis clausis libri contra metrutn. 60 per- 

fectum libri. 61 baptizari fg. 



function of every other particle and 
of the ace. and infinitive. It was 
used with the subjunctive, as here, 
or with the indicative, as at 91. 25, 
94. 25. It passed into the Italian 
che and French que. 

ambigentes may be regarded 
either as ace. abs., like trementes, 
in 49, or as the ace. after intrat ; 
cp. Fort. VI. vi. 15 ne lupus intret 
oues. The MS reading ianuis clausis 
will not scan. 

59. Mt. xxviii. 20, Joh. xx. 22. 

60. Spiritum Dei] ' even the 
Spirit of God,' a stronger reiteration 
of diuinum spiritum in 59, and so 
no mere tautology; cp. the use of 
diuinus at 48. 24, 49. 20, 107. 12. 

perfectae Trinitatis u.] ' thebond 
of the perfect Trinity.' The read- 
ing perfectufn would be introduced 
from spiritum and uinculum in the 
same line, and from a recollection 
of Eph. iv. 3, Col. iii. 4; cp. 41. 6 
perfecta Trinitas; Ambr.m Luc. I v. 
44 Trinitatem coaeternam atque per- 
fectam ; Nicet. de Spir. 22 perfectam 
Trinitatem adorantes. Blume takes 
perfectum as qualifying spiritum, 
which does not seem to me so good. 

uinculum] Although the word in 
this connexion does not seem to 
occur in Hilary's prose writings, yet 
the thought underlying it is to be 
found in various passages. See e.g. 
de Trin. VIII. 27 Deusigitur Chris- 
tus est unus cum Deo Spiritus ; ib. 
36 sed sacramentum dicti Dominici 
apostolus tenens, quod est ego et pater 
unum sumus, dum utrumque unum 
profitetur, unum utrumque sic signi- 
ficat non ad solititdinem singularis, 
fed ad Spiritus unitatem.,.; ib. 39 



cum in eodem domino filio et in eodem 
Deo poire unus atque idem Spiritus 
in eodem Spiritu sancto diuidens 
uniuersa perficiat \ Op. Hist. ll. 31 
et cum sit Pater in Filio et Filius in 
Patre, et Spiritus sanctus accipiat ea 
ah utroque, in eo quod Spiritus ex- 
primitur sanctae huius inuiolabilis 
Trinitatis unitas, haeretica parte 
parturiat Trinitas pronuntiata dis- 
sidium ? 

It must be recognised in inter- 
preting some of these passages, that 
Hilary uses the word Spiritus to 
denote the common Deltas of the 
Three Persons ; but this very fact 
lent itself to seeing a bond of union 
in that Person of the Three who 
bears as His proper name the de- 
signation of the common substance. 
For the later statement of the doc- 
trine by Augustine and others see 
Petavius de Trinitate vii. 12. He 
does not give any example of the 
use of the word uinculum before 
St Bernard. 

61. credulos] 'those who be- 
lieve'; cp. Mt. xxviii. 19 as quoted 
by Niceta de Sytnbolo 8 ; Hil. Hymn. 
I. 21 felix qui potuit fide \ res tantas 
penitus credulus adsequi; 107. 15. 
In classical writers the word is 
always used as an adjective and in 
a disparaging sense, ' credulous.' 

61 f. As to the punctuation of 
these lines, it seems that 62 is closely 
connected with 6 1 , but it also seems 
that 62 is no less closely connected 
with 63 ; for thus the Three Names 
are brought together and the mystic 
faith is not only the belief in bap- 
tismal regeneration but also in the 
Trinity. This idea I have taken froni 



14 



EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 



nomen Patris inuocantes, confitentes Filium, 
^mysticam fidem reuelat — unctos sancto Spiritu, 
fonte tinctos, innouatos, filios factos Dei. 
ante lucem turba fratrum concinnemus gloriam, 
63 mystica fide libri excepto d. unctos] iunctos d, tinctos re//. 
cinemus g, concinamus e. 



65 

65 con- 



Blume, who however does not point 
the rest of the sentence exactly as I 
have done. I would explain the 
lines thus : ' He bids them to bap- 
tize throughout the whole world 
those who believe, calling upon the 
Father, confessing the Son (mystic 
the faith that He reveals!), anointed 
by the holy Spirit, dipped in the 
font, born again, made the sons of 
God.' It will be seen that I regard 
unctos, tinctos etc. as in apposition 
with inuocantes and confitentes, and 
mysticam y] r. as a parenthesis. 
unctos I take to be, not a reference 
to the unction with the chrisma (cp. 
26. 4 note), then the necessary ad- 
junct of baptism, for ihis folloived 
the immersion in the KoXvfi^ridpa, 
but to the anointing of the whole 
body which is described by Cyril of 
Jerusalem as immediately preceding 
this immersion. After the anointing 
each candidate was asked if he be- 
lieved in the name of the Father and 
of the Son and of the holy Spirit. 
Each made this confession. Cyril 
makes no further mention of an in- 
vocation of the Trinity by the bap- 
tiser. Then all were thrice dipped 
in the pool and came forth again, 
and after putting on white robes 
were confirmed with chrism applied 
to forehead, ears, nostrils and breast. 
Cyril's words are Cat. xx (p. 312 
ed. Paris 1720) etra a-KoSvdivrei 
iXaiif) rjKeiifteade iiropKiarQ air' &Kpu)v 

rpiX^f KOpV<pTJi iui t(x3V KdTU}.../X,eTdi 

ravTo, ivl tt]v ayiav rov 6elov /Sair- 
rlff/JMTOs ixeipaywyeiade koXv/x^i^- 
dpav. At Cyprian Epist. LXX. 2 the 
allusion is no doubt to the confirma- 
tion which immediately followed 
baptism : baptizati unguntur oleum 
in altari sanctificatum . . , ttngi quoque 



necesse est eum qui baptizatus est, ut 
accept chrismate, id est tinctione, esse 
unctus Dei possit. Hilary, as I be- 
lieve, during his exile in Eastern 
parts would have had an opportunity 
of witnessing a baptism according 
to the Jerusalem ritual. [I cannot 
think that the tense of utictos is so 
strictly used as to signify an action 
previous to baptism. If it were, the 
same would apply to tinctos, eic. M.] 
unctos would easily pass into 
tinctos, which is so similar in writ- 
ing, from tinctos in the next line. 
The phrase tinctos s. Spiritu, ' dipped 
in the Spirit,' is more than awkward. 

64. fonte] Cp. Tit. iii. 5. 

innouatos] ' born again,' ' re- 
newed.' More usual words are re- 
natus (J oh. iii. 3), regeneratus. See 
Tit. iii. 5 saluos nos fecit per lauacrum 
regenerationis et renouationis Spiri- 
tussancti. At26. 4( = Prud.vi. 128), 
where Dressel reads innotatum, 
several Mss of Prud. and most 
breviaries that contain the hymn 
write innouatuin ; see Obbar. ad loc. 

fllioa f. Dei] Rom. viii. 16, Gal. 
iv. 5 f. 

65. ante lucem] Cp. Plin. ^/?>/. 
X. 96 adfirmabant autevi hanc fuisse 
summam uel culpae suae uel erroris, 
quod essent soliti stato die ante lucem 
conuenire carvienque Christo quasi 
Deo dicere secum inuicem. Daniel 
Thes. IV. 30 seems to hint at the 
possibility of our present hymn being 
one of those thus sung in Bithynia, 
A. D. 1 1 1 f. But those would be in 
Greek. 

concinnemus is used as in 2. 

66. qua is a kind of descriptive 
ablative, somewhat like such familiar 
phrases as qua es benignitate. 

sempitemo saeculo] ' throughout 



HYMN I. HILARY 



15 



qua docemur nos futures sempiterno saeculo, 

nos cantantes et precantes quae futura credimus, 

inmensamque maiestatem concinnemus uniter. 

ante lucem nuntiemus Christum regem saeculo. 

galli cantus, galli plausus proximum sentit diem. 70 

[ante lucem decantantes Christum regem dominum. 

qui in ilium recte credunt regnaturi cum eo. 

gloria Patri ingenito, gloria Unigenito, 

una cum sancto Spiritu in sempiterna saecula.] 

66 quia docemus d. futura c, futuri fg. sempiterna saecula cfg. 
67 cantantes] canentes bde. 68 maiestalemque inmensam libri. conci- 

nemus fg. iugiter libri 'exc. b. After 70 b repeats 70 and adds 72 et qui in 
ilium rectae credunt regnaturi cum eo. e writes 68 f. magestatemque in- 
mensam concinnemus iugiter ante lucem nuntiemus XP° regi saecula. Ante 
lucem nuntiemus XP° regi dno qui in illo recti credunt regnaturi cum eo. et 
itt 72 ovi. de. All the MSS except d add a doxology gloria patri ingenito 
gloria unigenito simul cum sco spu in sempiterna saecula. ingenito] genitori 
e. simul] ac, una eg. in saecula saeculorum c. 



eternity,' the abl. of time during 
which, rare in classical writers ; but 
cp. Caes. Bell. Civ. i. 47 nostri... 
quinque horis proelium suslinuis- 
sent; Cic. Div. I. 19 negari non 
potest niultis saeculis fuisse id ora- 
ctUum. In late Latin duration of 
time was regularly expressed by the 
abl. 

66 f. In the arrangement of these 
lines I have put the Wne galli cantus 
... last, Ixicause, when in the usual 
order it came between </ua docemur 
and nos cantantes..., it interrupted 
the sense ; whereas it makes a good 
• finish. With the transposition all 
runs easily: 'which we are taught 
shall be ours through endless ages, 
even we who sing and pray for what 
we believe will be.' 

68. imiter] * in unison, '=M«a«^fe 
. . . lino carmine of 49. 3 1 f. The gene- 
rally read iugiter is less appropriate 
here; see note on iugem Ifludem in 
29 above, uniter is a Lucretian word. 

inmensamque maiestatem] Cp. 
Te Deum 1 1 Patretn inmensae 



maiestatis; Athanasian Creed 9, la; 
76. I ; Commod. Apol. 102 quod 
Dei maiestas, quid sit, sibi conscia 
sola est. relucet inmcnsa super caelos. 
Minuc. Felix Octauius xviii. 8 sic 
eum digne custitnamus, dum inae- 
stimabilem dicimus ; ...magnitudi- 
nein Dei qui se putat nosse, minuit. 

69. 'Christ the King' comes just 
before the end as at the begiiming 
of the hymn. With the sense of the 
line cp. the prologue to Hilary's 
Hymns : in came Christum hymnis 
miindo nuntians. 

70. 'The cock's crowing, the 
cock's clapping of wings feels...'; 
i.e. the cock by his crowing and 
clapping shows that he is aware of 
the approach of another day. When 
accurate clocks were as yel unknown, 
the hours of the night were often 
reckoned by cockcrow; cp. Mk xiii. 
35, xiv. 30, 72 ; 2. 5 praeco diei iam 
sonat ; 20. i ales diei nuntius lucem 
propinquam praecinit. Shakesp. Ro- 
meo and Juliet IV. iv. 'the second 
cock has crowed. ..'tis three o'clock.' 



II. AMBROSE 

The siege of St Ambrose in the Portian basilica, in 
386, made an epoch in the history of Latin hymns. 
Ambrose had already written some hymns for the liturgy 
of the Milanese church, though we do not exactly know 
when^ Hymns in themselves were by this time no 
novelty. But a new mode of singing them was then 
introduced. The whole congregation was, as usual, the 
choir. When the first verse of a hymn had been sung by 
the one side the second verse was taken up by the other 
side, and so on throughout the hymn. It was the singing 
of the hymns in this novel manner that above all seized 
upon the imagination of the people. One who was in 
Milan during these stirring times has painted in memor- 
able words the deep impression produced by the sound 
of all those voices singing with one mouth and with 
one soul. Augustine tells the story thus, according to 
Dr Pusey's translation : 

' Not long had the church of Milan begun to use 
this kind of consolation and exhortation, the brethren 
zealously joining with harmony of voice and hearts. For 
it was a year, or not much more, that Justina, mother to 
the emperor Valentinian, a child, persecuted Thy servant 
Ambrose, in favour of her heresy, to which she was 
seduced by the Arians. The devout people kept watch 
in the church, ready to die with their bishop Thy 

^ Some scholars think that Augustine's words quoted below do not bear 
out this assertion. They maintain that amid the storm and stress of the 
siege of the basilica Ambrose found time and leisure to write his hymns, no 
improvisations but carefully worked out poems. That he should have done 
so may not be absolutely impossible, but it is most improbable. 



AMBROSE 17 

servant. There my mother Thy handmaid, bearing a 
chief part of those anxieties and vvatchings, lived for 
prayer. We, yet unwarmed by the heat of Thy Spirit, 
still were stirred up by the sight of the amazed and dis- 
quieted city. Then it was first instituted that hymns 
and psalms should be sung after the manner of the 
eastern churches, lest the people should wax faint 
through the tediousness of sorrow : and from that day 
to this the custom is retained, divers (yea, almost all) 
Thy congregations throughout other parts of the world, 
following herein ^' 

The Arians fixed upon Ambrose the charge of using 
the hymns as magic spells. He accepted the charge 
with pride. 'They allege,' he said, 'that the people are 
deceived with the magic spells of my hymns. I do not 
deny the fact. For what can be more powerful than a 
confession of the Trinity daily sung by the mouth of the 
whole people**?' 

We are entitled to believe that hymns which had so 
.striking an effect must have borne strongly marked 
features by which they might be recognised ; and that 
hymns which thus found their way to the heart of the 
Milanese faithful could not have been by them neglected, 
forgotten and lost. This is the case. They had definite 
characteristics of substance and of form ; and they were 
clung to with obstinate pertinacity against both emperors 
and popes. And yet, when we come to ask which these 
precious hymns are, in the midst of many others more 
or less like them that have been handed down to us in 



* Aug. Confessions IX. vii. 15. [In Dr Pusey's translation the words 
' after the manner of the eastern churches ' stand before ' hymns and 
psalms should be sung.' See the note in the edition of Gibb and Mont- 
gomery in this series. M.] 

2 Serm, c. Auxent. 34. Cp. Aug. Conf. ix. vi. 14. 

w. 3 



1 8 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

old hymnals, it has not been found easy to give a precise 
answer. 

Their very excellence has put one great hindrance in 
the way. In this case, as in all others, success led to 
imitation. Almost at once writers arose who composed 
hymns, which they tried as best they could to make 
close copies of those of Ambrose. Moreover Ambrose 
had made the metre that he used so completely his own 
that it soon came to be called the ' Ambrosian' metre, as 
Alcaeus and Sappho gave their names to their respective 
measures. Any hymn composed in that metre was 
called an 'Ambrosian,' [The earliest instances are in the 
Rule of Benedict (IX. 8, xii. 8, xiir. 2i,xvii. 19 — the lines 
being those of E. C. Butler's edn).] Isidore of Seville at 
the beginning of the Vllth century says, 'Hymns are 
from his name called Ambrosians.' Indeed so completely 
were the two words, hymn and Ambrosian, identified in 
the course of time, that even the connexion of the one 
word with the Bishop of Milan was half forgotten. 
Hincmar in the IXth century gives an alternative 
derivation of the term Ambrosian as accepted by some: 
'there is a certain herb called ambrosia which the 
heathen used in honour of their gods, and thence is 
derived "Ambrosian," that is "divine."' It is often im- 
possible to tell with certainty what even such careful 
writers as Cassiodorus and the Venerable Bede mean, 
when they call such and such a hymn an Ambrosian. 

The next stumbling-block in our way is this. The 
hymns of Ambrose were one and all written for and 
inserted in the service-books of his own church of Milan. 
Now it is notorious that the several parts of a liturgy 
are not signed with their authors' names. The hymns in 
the use of Milan would be anonymous. For a while this 
would cause no doubt or confusion. But when the writer 



AMBROSE 19 

was dead, and when the generation that knew him had 
passed away, and when the hymns had been adopted 
into the uses of other churches, then confusion and 
doubt would arise, aggravated in this particular case by 
the imitation of other writers. We need feel no surprise 
when we find the hymn collectors of the XVIth century, 
— such as were Clichtoveus or Cassander or Gillot, — 
assigning to Ambrose any hymns which they believed 
to be ancient and which they did not wish to give to 
any other writer. 

The first attempt at discrimination that can at all be 
called scientific was made by the Benedictines of the 
congregation of St Maur in Parish The hymns formed 
an appendix to their edition of the works of Ambrose. 
No hymn was by them allowed to pass as genuine if it 
was not attested by some good writer who lived near 
enough to the close of the IVth century to render his 
I statement on the point worthy of credit in the editors' 
judgement. The Benedictine scholars themselves did not 
claim that their method was perfect, only that it was the 
best available in the circumstances. They did not deny 
that among the hymns omitted by them there might be 
some written by Ambrose. 

The witnesses admitted as adequate were seven in 
number. They were Augustine of Hippo, Caelestine 
(Pope from 422 to 436), Faustus (Bishop of Riez, who 
died in 492), Cassiodorus (who died in 575), Ildefonsus, 
Bishop of Toledo (who died in 66^), the Venerable Bede 
(who died in 735), and Hincmar of Reims (who died as 
late as 882). The hymns thus attested were twelve in 
number. They were : 



^ The editors of St Ambrose were J. du Frische and N. le Nourry and 
the work appeared in two folio volumes at Paris 1 686-1 690. 



*: /" 



20 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

1. Aeterne rerum conditor. 

2. Deus creator omnium. 

3. lam surgit hora tertia. 

4. Veni redemptor gentium. 

5. Inluminans altissimus. 

6. Orabo mente Dominum. 

7. Splendor paternae gloriae. 

8. Aeterna Christi munera, 

9. Somno refectis artubus. 

10. Censors paterni luminis. 

11. O lux beata Trinitas. 

12. Fit porta Christi peruia. 

Useful as this test of quotation by an early and care- 
ful writer may be when taken in combination with other 
tests, it is not good enough when taken alone. It is 
more or less a matter of chance whether any particular 
hymn is or is not among the few, the very few, that are 
so quoted. And it will be seen from what we have said 
above that the canon of the Benedictines is open to yet 
another serious objection. The evidence of such men as 
Augustine and Caelestine, and even perhaps that of 
Faustus, is as good as evidence can be and is not to be 
gainsaid. But the last few writers on the list — Cassio- 
dorus, and in especial Bede and Hincmar — are by no 
means equally trustworthy. As to Bede, apart from his 
lateness of date, we can seldom feel sure whether in 
calling a hymn an 'Ambrosian' he thereby means to say 
that it was one written by Ambrose. At times his words 
can scarcely be taken to mean this. Thus in one place 
he writes: quo modo et adinstar ianibici metri piilcherrhne 
/actus est hymnus ille praeclarus'. Rex aeterne Domine... 
et alii Ambrosiani non pauci — a hymn which he cannot 
have ascribed to St Ambrose. 

The Benedictine canon is therefore when taken by 



AMBROSE 21 

itself insufificient. And yet well-nigh all modern writers 
on the subject before the last few years have followed it 
implicitly. We may adapt Bentley's well-known saying 
about Stephens: the judgement of the Benedictines 
stood as if an apostle had been their compositor. A 
quotation by an early writer has been the one test of 
authenticity allowed by such scholars as Ebert, Manitius, 
Huemer and others. Ihm, who has done such excellent 
work on Ambrose, winds up a brief account of the above 
mentioned twelve hymns with the significant words: ' I 
neither wish nor am able to say more about the hymns 
of AmbroseV 

But there is a better way. As long ago as 1862, 
)r Luigi Biraghi of the Ambrosian Library brought out 
^an edition of the Inni sinceri e carmi di Sanf Ambrogio 
ath an illustrative commentary and an excellent intro- 
duction setting forth his methods in detail. Strange to 
say, not one of the scholars just mentioned makes any 
use of this book, only one or two of them so much as 
mentioning his name. We hope to be able to shew that 
he is in the right and that he proves his case. Of recent 
years the late Dr G. M. Dreves,Fr. C. Blume,Dr A. Steier 
and others have successfully contended for him. 

The Benedictines had laid down one canon and only 
one. Biraghi lays down no fewer than three. Firstly a 
hymn must be in every respect worthy of Ambrose, in 
subject-matter, literary style, and prosody. Secondly, it 
must have been continuously in the Ambrosian use, as 
the use of Milan is called. Thirdly, if it happens to be 
attested by some early and careful writer, so much the 
better. This third test is (as it should be) chiefly used to 
confirm other evidence. For, as we have already seen, 
because a hymn does not happen to be quoted, it does 

^ Sludia Arnbrosiana p. 6r. 



22 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

not follow that on this account it is not one of the 
genuine hymns of Ambrose. We may well add a fourth 
canon, which is indeed a corollary of the first. Like 
some other writers Ambrose was given to repeating 
himself, often using well-nigh the same words. A hymn 
therefore that contains characteristically Ambrosian 
thoughts and phrases is likely to have been written by 
Ambrose. 

Let us take first the second of these tests, which at 
least at the beginning of the search is as important as 
any. If the leading question to ask is : Where shall we 
be likely to find Ambrose's hymns ? the answer is 
obviously: In the service-books of that church for which 
they were written. We know that this church of Milan 
in every age of its history, but more especially in its 
earlier days, has shewn itself intensely conservative in 
upholding the Ambrosian use. Charles the Great suc- 
ceeded in ousting the offices of other churches in his 
wide domains, but in spite of his strenuous measures^ he 
failed to persuade or compel the Milanese to give up 
theirs. Is it then likely that they should have neglected 
that which was regarded as one of the most important 
parts of their rite, the hymns — and such hymns written 
at such a crisis by their great bishop ? 

Then we have to look for our hymns in the old manu- 
scripts — the hymnals, breviaries, manuals, antiphonaries 
and psalters — which have preserved for us the tradi- 
tional use of the Ambrosian church. And we shall not 
search in vain. Biraghi, and after him Dreves, examined 
these manuscripts, some dozen or so in number, ranging 
in date from the Xth to the XlVth or XVth century. 

' Vita Caroli (apud Bolland. 28 Jan.) 26 Mediolanum profecttis omties 
libros Ambrosiano titulo sigillatos, quos iiel dono uel pretio uel ui habere 
potuit, alios combussit, alios trans monies quasi in exilitim misit. 



AMBROSE 23 

The outcome of the investigation is a collection of 

some forty hymns. Out of this number our genuine 

lymns of Ambrose have to be picked, as for one reason 

lor another the whole forty cannot be his. This we must 

fdo by the application of Biraghi's first canon. We have 

to find out the characteristics of matter, style and 

scansion to which a hymn of Ambrose may be expected 

to conform. With this end in view we may take the four 

fhymns which we know on Augustine's authority to have 

[been written by his master, regarding him for the time 

being, but only for so long, as the .one unimpeachable 

witness of authenticity. 

The four hymns are these: Aeterne reriim conditor, 
Deiis creator omnium, lam. siirgit hora tertia, Intende qui 
regis Israel. 

What helpful characteristics can we note in them } 
To begin with, each one of them contains eight 
stanzas of four lines. If any one should ask why this 
exact number, we have an answer to hand which is at 
least plausible. A hymn of just so many verses would 
on the one hand not be so long as to weary the singers, 
nor on the other hand would it be so short as to preclude 
the teaching, for which it was specially written. Then 
again, as we have seen, the hymn was to be sung anti- 
phonally, and therefore it must needs contain an even 
number of verses. This mode of singing made it also 
desirable that as a rule the sense should end with each 
stanza and not overlap into the next. 

In the next place we note that the four hymns were 
all written in the ' Ambrosian' metre, the iambic dimeter 
as it is called. The laws of metre are carefully observed, 
almost as carefully as they had been observed by the 
great metrists Vergil, Horace and Martial. Ebert would 
indeed bind Ambrose too fast when he says that his 



/- 



/ 



24 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

prosody is perfect. But we must remember that he was 
thinking only of the four hymns attested by Augustine. 
To take one or two licences by way of example. Hiatus 
was as a rule avoided by the classical poets. Yet Horace 
could scan capiti inhumato', Vergil ter sunt conatt im- 
ponere Pelib Ossam, and even addam cerea prund ; honos 
erit huic quoque pomo. Then we cannot complain if 
Ambrose wrote Petri adaequauit fidem. And as to the 
lengthening of short final syllables by the ictus or stress 
of the verse : of this we have two examples in the four 
hymns — te diligat castus amor, and qui credidit saluus 
erit. In this licence Ambrose goes little farther than 
Horace with perruptt Acheronta, or Vergil with pectoribus 
inhians. 

Let us now inquire into the literary character of the 
four hymns, their outward form and style. They are, as 
we should expect from a man of Ambrose's character 
and education under the best masters of Rome, sharp- 
cut, clear, concise, nervous and strong. And as the 
themes are high, so the thought is profound. As Arch- 
bishop Trench happily put it : 

' The great objects of faith in their simplest expression 
are felt by him so sufficient to stir all the deepest feel- 
ings of the heart, that any attempt to dress them up, to 
array them in moving language, were merely superfluous. 
The passion is there, but it is latent and represt, a fire 
burning inwardly, the glow of an austere enthusiasm, 
which reveals itself indeed, but not to every careless 
beholder. Nor do we fail presently to observe how truly 
these poems belonged to their time and to the circum- 
stances under which they were produced — how suitably 
the faith which was in actual conflict with, and was just 
triumphing over, the powers of this world, found its 
utterance in hymns such as these, wherein is no softness. 



AMBROSE 25 

perhaps little tenderness ; but in place of these a rock- 
like firmness, the old Roman stoicism transmuted and 
glorified into that nobler Christian courage, which en- 
' countered and at length overcame the worldV 

The hymns which stand the tests that have been 
(mentioned, that is to say, those which are in the liturgi- 
cal books of the Milanese, church and which bear the 
hall-mark of a workmanlike hand such as was that of 
Ambrose, are according to Biraghi eighteen in number. 
They are the eighteen which follow (nos. 2-19). 

As to the first fourteen of these we may follow Biraghi 
without hesitation and admit that they were written by 
Ambrose. But while the evidence with regard to the 
last four hymns is no doubt weighty, it is not convincing 
in the same measure. 

We will first take the three short hymns, 16, 17 and 
18, each consisting of two stanzas. It is in their favour 
that they are contained in most of the Ambrosian 
manuscripts, that in thought and expression they are 
not unworthy of Ambrose, and that they may be illus- 
trated to some extent at least from his prose writings. 
Against their authenticity however the following objec- 
tions must be taken into account. 

Ambrose undoubtedly wrote another hymn for the 
Third Hour, number 4 in this volume. But the longer 
hymn may possibly have been written for use on 
Sundays and festivals, a shorter one for daily use. And 
there may have been another reason why the author 
should write a second hymn for the Third Hour. In the 
longer hymn there is but a bare allusion to the descent 
of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost : he may 
have felt that the subject was too great to be brought in 
as merely part of a hymn, and so may have separated 

' Sacred Latin Poetry p. 88. 



26 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

for special treatment the two events with which the third 
hour was especially connected. 

Their shortness renders the Ambrosian authorship of 
the three hymns doubtful. It is this above all that per- 
suades Steier to assign them to some other unknown 
writer. He argues that, as the undoubted hymns of 
Ambrose without exception contain eight verses each of 
four lines, we may expect this number in any hymn 
of his. But this seems to be too definite a statement 
considering our limited knowledge of the circumstances. 

It is perhaps more important to note that they are not 
included in the Rule either of Caesarius, or of his suc- 
cessor Aurelian, nor are they to be found in the MSS 
which contain the older series of hymns, although all the 
hymns known to be written by Ambrose, except the six 
composed in honour of individual saints, are forthcoming 
in one or more of these documents. 

Steier objects moreover that the agreement in respect 
of language between these three hymns and Ambrose's 
prose writings is very slight. With regard to this we 
must bear in mind the obvious truth that the shorter the 
hymn, the less chance is there of our coming across such 
parallels, which after all are by no means entirely 
wanting. 

It is perhaps safest in the present state of our know- 
ledge to leave the question undecided. If the three 
hymns in question were not written by Ambrose they 
are for all that worthy of him. 

For the last hymn on the list Biraghi confidently 
claims Ambrose as its writer, but his main argument 
rests on doubly insecure grounds. In the treatise De 
Lapsu Virginis consecratae, which is sometimes assigned 
to Ambrose and which is a severe rebuke of one Susanna 
who had broken her vows of chastity, we read frustra 



HYMN IL AMBROSE 27 

hymnum uirginitatis exposui. But probably Ambrose did 
not write the book^ and even if he did the words cannot 
allude to our hymn, for exposui must mean * I have set 
forth' or 'explained/ not 'I have composed^' 

However this does not prove that the hymn was not 
written by Ambrose. It is likely enough that he should 
have composed such a hymn for the virgins of whom he 
wrote and thought so much. His characteristic ideas 
and phrases occur in it, including the slightly altered 
quotation of scripture, which was quite in his manner. 
The number of stanzas, four instead of the usual eight, 
is not an insuperable difficulty. We are inclined there- 
fore to say that in all probability Ambrose was the 
write'r of hymn 19. It must be mentioned that it is not 
in honour of one or more virgins, in which case a later 
writer would have had to be found for it, but a beautiful 
prayer to Christ the heavenly bridegroom. 



Hymn 2 

Augustine definitely says that this hymn was written 
by Ambrose: Retract. I. 21 in quo [sc. libro contra epist. 
Donati] dixi in quodam loco de apostolo Petro, quod in illo 
tamquani in petra fundata sit ecclesia ; qui sensus etiam 
cantatur ore niultoruni in uersibus beatissitni Ambrosii^ 
ubi de gallo gallinaceo ait : hoc ipsa petra ecclesiae \ canente 
culpam diluit. 

A passage from Ambrose Hex. V. 88 with which the 
hymn is clearly and closely connected, forms a good 
commentary on it : est etiam galli cantus suauis in 

^ It is given by some to Niceta of Remesiana, the possible writer of the 
Te Deum ; cp. Ihm Studia Ambrosiana 73 f., Burn Niceta cxxxi f. 

^ The Benedictine editors of Ambrose identify the ' hymn of virginity ' 
with the latter part of Psalm xliv. (xlv.), namely from verse 10 to the end. 



28 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

noctibus, nee solum suauis sed etiain utilis ; qui quasi 
bonus cohabitator et dorniientem exeitat et sollicitmn 
admonet et uiantem solatur^ processunt noctis canora 
uoce protestans. hoc canente latro suas relinquit insidias, 
hoc^ ipse hicifer excitatus oritur caelumque inluminat ; hoc 
canente maestitiam trepidus nauta deponit, omnisque crebro 
uespertinis flatibus excitata tempestas et procella mitescit ; 
hoc^ deuotus affectus exsilit ad precajidum, legendo quoque 
munus instaurat; hoc postremo canente ipse ecclesiae petra 
culpam suam diluit, quam priusquam gallus caniaret 
negando contraxerat. istius cantu spes ointiibus redit, aegri 
releuatur incornmodum, minuitur dolor uulnerunt, febrium 
Jlagrantia mitigatur, reuertitur fides lapsis, Jesus titubantes 
respicit, errantes corrigit. denique respexit Petrum et 
statim error abscessit ; pulsa est negatio, secuta confessio. 
The passage appears to be based on the hymn, rather 
than the hymn on the passage. 

As to the first stanza of this hymn and also that of 5, 
Kayser notes that we need not be surprised if Ambrose 
more than once in his hymns alludes to the recognition 
of the one true God which is brought home to us by 
means of the immutable course of nature. There were in 
his time many Christians who, although they had aban- 
doned the polytheism of heathendom for the monotheism 
of Christianity, yet needed to be reminded of the great 
doctrine which distinguished the one from the other. In 
their attacks on paganism the apologists continually 
appeal to the possibility and necessity of learning the 
existence of one almighty God from the facts of surround- 
ing nature. They point to the regular and beneficial 
succession of times, — as for instance day and night, — 

^ Note that just as in line 1 1 of the hymn canente has to be supplied from 
the context, so here. It does not seem necessary to write with Schenkl 
hoc {canente) deuotus. 



HYMN II. AMBROSE . 29 

and of seasons, — spring, summer, autumn and winter, — 
as the work of one all-seeing, all-working providence. 

Thus Minucius Felix Octavius XVII. 4 f quid enim 
potest esse tarn apertum^tam confessum^ tamque perspicuum, 
cum oculos in caelum sustuleris et quae sunt infra circaque 
lustraueris, quam esse aliquod numen praestantissimae 
mentis, quo omnis natura inspiretur, moueatur, alatur, 
£^bemetur? 5. caelum ipsmn uide : quam late tenditur, 
quam rapide uoluitur, uel quod iti noctem astris distin- 
guitur, uel quod in diem sole lustratur: iam scies quam 
sit in eo summi nioderatoris mira et diuina libratio. uide 
et annum, ut solis ambitus faciat, et mensem uide, ut 
luna auctu, senio, labore circumagat. 6. quid tenebrarum 
et luminis dicani recursantes uices, ut sit nobis operis 
et quietis alterna reparatio ? 

The same thought often recurs in Ambrose's prose 
works and especially in his Hexaemeron. Thus at IV. 2 
niagnus est \sol\ qui per horarum uices locis aut accedit 
aut decedit cotidie jib./ est ergo in diei potestate sol, et 
luna in potestate noctis, quae temporum uicibus oboedire 
conpellitur et nunc impletur luniine atque uacuatur ... 
namque luna luminis inminutionem habet, nan corporis, 
quando per Alices menstruas deponere uidetur suuni lumen. 
See also the first stanzas of 5, 17, 18, 25, 45, 47, 57, 58 
etc., and 84. 17 f. 

This hymn was appointed by Caesarius of Aries to be 
sung ad secundum nocturnum (i.e. at what was afterwards 
known as Lauds) in alternation with the unmetrical 
Magna et inirabilia, which latter is extant only in Vat. 
reg. II f. 236, where the rubric is hymnus nocturnus. It 
runs thus : Magna et mirabilia opera tua sunt Domine 
Deus omnipotens. iustae et uerae sunt uiae tuae Domine 
rex gentium, quis non timebit et magnificabit nomen 
tuum ? quoniam tu solus sanctus et pius, et omnes gentes 



30 EA RLY LA TIN H YMNS 

uenient et adorabunt notnen tuum sub oculis tuts, quoniam 
iustitiae tiiae manifestatae sunt. It will be seen that, 
although this is called a hymn both in the Rule of 
Caesarius and in the MS just quoted from, it is in fact a 
translation of Rev. xv. 3 f. independent of the Vulgate. 

According to the Mozarabic use the Aeterne reruin 
conditor, to go by the rubric of the one MS of the old 
Spanish use that contains it (Madrid 1005 Hh 60, p. 125, 
Xth century), was originally sung at a very early service 
adpullorum cantum. In the Breuiariunt secundum regulam 
sancti Isidori printed at Toledo in 1502, the editor 
Alfons Ortiz appoints it for the ist Sunday in Advent. 
In the older Roman use it was sung on Sundays at 
Lauds or Mattins. The ancient Ambrosian MSS have as 
rubric ^vcs\^\y yinnus nocturnalis, and so conservative are 
they that, although none of them is older than the 
Xth century, this no doubt gives the old tradition of the 
Milanese church. 

For further information on liturgical and other points 
see Daniel I. 15, IV. 3, Chevalier Repertorium number 
647, Julian's Dictionary of Hymnology p. 26, Mearns' 
Early Latin Hymnaries p. 4. 

Abcghik Eacdhjlosvx»j/t(^ FdhiklnpqsAf Gab Habcdefghi 
Ibceghimnop Mamx Vabcp 

Aeterne rerum conditor, 
noctem diemque qui regis, 
et temporum das tempora, 
ut alleues fastidium ; 

3 dans Eos Fs Hbd letnn Mm. 

I. conditor] i.e. Christ; cp. de thought de Helia ix. 32 ab ipso 

Fid. V. 36 Dei Filium, cum conditor niundi conditore didicimus saepe 

ipse sit temporum; ib. IX. 58 cum diuersitatibus cumulari p-atiam. 

Filius temporis auctor sit et creator \ temporuia... tempora] There is 

Hex. IV. 5 Filius fecit solem. some play on the different uses of 

3. Ambr. expresses the same the word, temporutn being the sea- 



HYMN IL AMBROSE 

praeco diei iam sonat, 
noctis profundae peruigil, 
nocturna lux uiantibus, 
a nocte noctem segregans. 

hoc excitatus lucifer 
soluit polum caligine, 
hoc omnis error urn chorus 



31 
S 



5 sonet Eh Fp*s Gb Hbcde Im Mm. 
tEh. 8 ac nocte He. segregat Ed. 



6 profunda Imp Vc, profundo 
9 excitato El Fkn Igm. 



sons of the day and night, summer 
etc., and tempora the fixed times at 
which they come and go ; cp. Hex. 
IV. 21 tempora autem quae sunt, 
nisi mutationum uices? 

6. ' Watchful throughout the 
depth of night.' So of the night- 
ingale Hex. V. 85 quae peruigil 
custos...insomnem longae noctis la- 
borem cantilenae suauitate solatur. 

7. iilantlbus] Quintilian viii. 
vi. 33 objects to the word then just 
coined : tdo pro eo infelicius fictum. 
But it is more significant than eo, 
connected as it is with the uiae., the 
great military roads. It is one 
of Ambr.'s favourite words, e.g. 
Hex. III. 38 luna quoque uiantibus 
iter demonstrat. The derivative uia- 
tor is of course classical. 

8. i.e. marking off one part of 
the night from another; cp. Epist. 
LXix. 3 qiiam canora uox galli, 
noctumis uicibus sollemne munus 
ad excitandum et canendum mini- 
strans. 

9. lucifer] the sun ; cf. Ambr.'s 
lucifer excitatus oritur caelumque 
inluminat, quoted in the introduc- 
tion to the hymn. So probably at 
44. 15, 46. 8, 61. 3; at 46. 5, 71. 9 
it seems that the morning star is 
meant. 

The rhetorical repetition of hoc in 
9, II, 13, 15 is in Ambr.'s manner; 
as is that of gallus, gallus, gallo in 
18, 20 and 21, and of tu, te, tibi in 
29, 31 and 32. 



10. poliun] The Greek iroXoj was 
accepted as a Latin word and meant 
(i) 'the pivot' on which a thing 
turns, especially the axis of the 
earth, ' the pole ' ; hence (2) ' the 
vault of heaven ' as here, at 44. 2 
and Hex. i. 20 micans fulgentibus 
stellis polus, having been so used in 
classical writers, as Verg. Aen. III. 
585 lucidus aethra \ siderea polus\ 
then (3) ' heaven ' itself, 13. 30, 
32. I and often. 

caligine] ' gloom ' rather than 
absolute darkness; cp. Cic. Phil. 
XII. 3 quod uidebam equidem, sed 
quasi per caliginem ; yet applicable 
to night, Hor. Od. iii. xxix. 30 
caliginosa nocte ; Ambr. Hex. v. 86 
nocturnarum tenebrarum caligan- 
tetit horror em. 

11. hoc] 'at his note,' canente 
being supplied in thought from 16. 
This is simpler than (with Lipp) to 
supply praecone governed by excita- 
tus in 9. 

errorum] ' the roving demons,' 
abstract for concrete. Prudentius no 
doubt had this stanza in mind : Cath. 
'• .^7 f- f(t-unt uagantes daemonas \ 
laetos tenebris noctium \ gallo ca- 
nente exterritos \ sparsim timere et 
cedere; and cp. Shakespeare Hamlet 
I . i . Bernardo. It was about to speak 
when the cock crew. Horatio. And 
then it started like a guilty thing | 
upon a fearful summons. I have 
heard | the cock that is the trumpet 
of the morn, | doth with his lofty 



32 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



uias nocendi deserit. 

hoc nauta uires coUigit, 
pontique mitescunt freta ; 
hoc ipse petra ecclesiae 
canente culpam diluit. 



15 



12 uiam Eacdjlosv0 Fk Gb Hgi lehnp Mm Vbc. 15 ipsa Ai 

Ecdhjv Gb Hbcdef la Vabp. 16 deluit Edhjlv Fnp^ Vc. 



and shrill sounding throat | awake 
the god of day; and at his warn- 
ing... I the extravagant and erring 
spirit hies | to his confine.... Mar- 
cellus. It faded on the crowing of 
the cock. I Some say that ever 
'gainst that season comes | wherein 
our Saviour's birth is celebrated, | 
the bird of dawning singeth all 
night long, | and then they say no 
spirit can walk abroad, erronum, 
the correction of the editors of the 
Roman breviary of 1632, has been 
taken up by most modern editors, 
but it has no MS authority, and 
spoils the sense. For, meaning 
'idle slaves,' it would refer to evil 
men, as both Biraghi and Lipp tak« 
it, in which case line 23 mucro latro- 
nis conditur would be tautological. 
And as to the use of the abstract 
word errores for the roving demons, 
if Livy I. xiii. 2 could use iras in 
the sense of iratos, and at xxvill. 
ix. 15 triuniphum in that of trium- 
phatorem; if Tacitus ^«m. xiil.xxv 
could use captiuitatis = captae urbis, 
and later writers coniugia = coniuges, 
and so on, surely here Ambr. may 
put errores when he means ' wan- 
dering spirits.' At Hex. vi. 52 he 
uses seruitioruin for ' slaves,' as 
Livy does at li. xxxiv. 

chorus is used in this sinister 
sense l)y Ambr. de Cain I. 14 quo- 
dam nequitiarum choro circumfusa. 
The cohors of the Roman breviary 
is found in no MS. 

12. For the phrase uias deserere 
cp. Ambr. Epist. Lxxvili. 2 qui 
uias eius deserant, and Deut. ix. 12, 
16, Ecclus. xlix. 18, and for uias 



nocendi Damasus xxvil. 2 carni- 
ficumque uias pariter quod tniile 
nocendi \ uincere quod potuit, mon- 
strauit gloria Christi. 

15. ipse petra] 'the church's 
rock himself.' For the gender of 
ipse cp. Ambr. Hex. v. 88 ipse 
ecclesiae petra, which is reproduced 
by Paulin. Nol. Epist. XXXH. 10; 
also ille (ipse) uas electionis, Ambr. 
in Ps. XXXVI. 17, in Ps. cxviii. iii. 
18, de Paenit. I. 33 ; see too Vincent 
Ler. 9 ille uas electionis, . ..ille aposto- 
lorum tuba ; and 3. 30 aurora tolus, 
13. 31 electa... caput. 

With Mt. xvi. 18 f. cp. Ambr. de 
Incarn. Dom. ■^^ fides ergo est eccle- 
siae fundamentum ; non enim de 
came Petri sed de fide dictum est 
quia portae mortis ei nojt praeuale- 
bunt ; in Luc. VI. 95 qui enim 
carnem uicerit, ecclesiae fundamen- 
tum est. 

16. diluit] 'washed away' with 
his tears. The phrase culpa dilttitur 
is found in Ambr. in Ps. XL. 5 ; and 
for Ambr.'s application of Peter's 
tears of penitence cp. in Luc. x. 90 

fieuit ergo amarissinie Petrus...et tu, 
si ueniam uis mereri, dilue lacrimis 
titis culpam tuam. The form sup- 
ported by so many Mss, deluit, 
inclines one to think that a word 
deluo, with which cp. abluo (10. 18 
etc., inPs. cxviii. iii. 18 and often), 
existed side by side with diluo, 
especially as other compounds of de 
are used in a similar way: thus we 
have in Luc. v. 56 delicta defieui 
(where see the context in 55 etc.), 
ib. V. 106 peccata detergas. 

1 7 f. ' The cock awakens the lie- 



HYMN IL AMBROSE 



33 



20 



surgamus ergo strenue : 

tgallus iacentes excitat 
et somnolentos increpat ; 
gallus negantes arguit. 
gallo canente spes redit, 
aegris salus refunditur, 
mucro latronis conditur, 
lapsis fides reuertitur. 
lesu, labantes respice, 
et nos uideado corrige ; 

20 negantem Abi Hd Vap. 21 ipso {pro gallo) Ih. 22 egri 

Fi Ig. 24 fide Vp. 25 labentes EcdjsvxV<^ Fdhinpsx Gab Habdef 

Ibghimo Vb Mm, pauentes A meliores cum bcgi Elo Vap. 



25 



a-beds and chides the drowsy, the 
cock convicts those who deny ' : 
note the climax. The sleep is of the 
soul, and the denial is compared, by 
the choice of the word negantes, to 
the guilt of Peter ; the three calls 
reminding us of Christ's three calls 
in the garden, and Peter being men- 
tioned here as in stanzas iv, vi and 
VII. The variant rugantem would 
perhaps over-emphasize the con- 
nexion with him. 

arguit] 'Convicts' of their guilt; 
Joh. xvi. 8 arguet mttndum de pec- 
cato. 

2r. spes] because the weary 
watcher knows thereby that dawn 
is at hand. 

22. Ambr. is remarkably fond 
of using ftindo and its many com- 
pounds, especially refundo and in- 
fundo, in both literal and meta- 
phorical sense ; cp. de Noe 42 ani- 
mae refusatn esse uirtutem ; ib. 59 
uigor animae se refundU ; Epist. 
IV. 7, XII. 2; 9. 3, 10. 5, 16. 4. 
See the note on infunde 3. 8, and 
the fuller list of the derivatives of 
fundo used by Ambr. which Steier 
gives on pp. 586, 642. The com- 
pounds used by Ambr. are circwn- 
fnndo, confundo, diffundo, effundo, 
offundo, profunda, superfundo, trans- 
fundo, and perhaps others. 



25 f. Lu. xxii. 60 f., esp. 61 
Domin'K respexit Petrum ; cp. 
Prud. Calh. I. 49 qtixe uis sit huius 
alitis I Saiuator ostendit Petro, \ ter 
antequam gallus canat \ sese negan- 
dum praedicans. \\_fit natnque pecca- 
tum prius \ quain praeco lucis proxi- 
mae \ inluslret humanum genus \ 
finemque peccati ferat. || fleuit ne- 
gator denique. 

labantes] ' tottering,' ' ready to 
fall,' answers to tilubantes in the 
parallel prose passage. The less rare 
word labentes is read in most Mss, 
but this would bring a spondee into 
the second foot of the verse, which 
fault Ambr. would be likely to 
avoid, but which copyists would as 
a rule disregard. But we must admit 
that Ambr. elsewhere uses labor 
in this connexion, as at Hex. v. 35 
titubal sed non labitur. Dreves at 
first read labantes with Biraghi, but 
in Analecta L. p. 11 labentes (with 
v.l. in critical no^ti-fatientes, which 
must be a misprint). Steier reads 
pauentes with the Ambrosian mss, 
and this should perhaps be read in 
the text, the allusion being probably, 
not (as Biraghi and Pimont suggest) 
to the fear of mighty demons, but 
to the cowardice through which St 
Peter fell. 

respice] Ambr. in Luc. x. 89 



54 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



si respicis lapsus cadunt, 
fletuque culpa soluitur. 

tu lux refulge sensibus, 
mentisque somnum discute ; 
te nostra uox primum sonet, 
et uota soluamus tibi. 



30 



27 lapses E/*0 Fs Habcdegi Icim Va^p, lapsi Ex Fh Hf Ibo (h lapsis), 
lapsu Es, laxus Ev. stabunt (pro cadunt) Ex/uc^ Fhs Hacdefgi Ihimo, 
cauent Ab, si nos respicis lapsi non cadunt Eo. 30 noctis [pro mentis) 

Eo. 32 ora [pro uota) Abcg^o/i Fk Gb Habce'-'gi Ibehnop Vacp, 

ore Esx0 Fis Hde* Ic Mm. psallamus (pro soluamus) Esx^ Fis Hd^e' 
Mm. 



respexit lesus et Hie atnarissime 
Jleuit. respice, domine lesu, ut 
sciamus nostrum deflere peaatum. 
unde etiam lapsus sanctorum utilis. 
37. lapsus cadunt] ' our back- 
slidings fail from us ' ; a play on 
words rather like 5. 22 dormire culpa 
nouerit. For the plural lapsus cp. 
Ambr. Apol. Daiiid 46 lapsus quis 
intellegit? ( = Ps. xviii. 13 delicta 
quis intellegit:), Epist. LXX. 23 con- 
fite7itibus nobis lapsus nostras. He 
elsewhere Hex. i. 31 speaks of a 
lapsus ad mortem. 

29. ' Shine forth as a light ' ; lux 
is nominative as being part of the 
predicate. Ambr. constantly uses 
lux of Christ, cp. among many pas- 
sages in Luc.iv.^iet ipse lux uera ; 
ib. IV. 43 quis est enim lux magna 
nisi Christus; ib. viii. 36 lux, Dei 
Filius ; de Spir. S.l. 141 lux autem 
et Filius; ib. I. 142 quia Filius 
Dei lux est. refulge almost means 
' blaze ' ; cp. Hex. iv. 8 ante solem 
lucet quidem, sed non refulget dies, 
sensibus stands here, as elsewhere, 
for 'thoughts' not 'senses'; cp. 
3.8. 

30. mentis] ' of the soul,' as at 
3. 17, 28, 6. 16, 21 etc. 

somnum] Slothful negligence of 
our duty towards God is often de- 
scribed as a sleep of the soul ; cp. 
I Cor. xi. 30, 5. 21, 20. 12. Our 



praise of Him is one of our duties, 
and so lines 31, 32 are added. 

For the phrase somnum discute 
cp. Propert. III. x. 13 ac primum 
pura somnum tibi discute lympha ; 
Ammian. Marcell. XIX. vi. 8 dis- 
cusso somno. Steier quotes also from 
Ambr. de Bono Mortis 42 lux non 
recepit tenebras, nam statim discutit, 
in Ps. cxvill. iii. 25 uelamen dis- 
cutei-et. 

Line 30 is imitated by Prudentius, 
see 20. 13; and 31 with slight 
changes recurs in later hymns, see 
60. 2, 64. 5. 

32. We 'discharge our vows ' to 
God by singing His praises. This 
thought also often recurs, cp. 6. 
II f. uoli...soluimus. 

The variant ora is no doubt due 
to the misreading of uota by an 
early copyist, who did not see what 
.' the vows ' were. With ora, 32 
would be little more than a repeti- 
tion of 31, as would be the other 
reading ore psallamus tibi, which is 
not quite free from blame from a 
metrical point of view, see the note 
on 16. 10. But when Dreves (Aure- 
lius Ambrosius p. 48, note 2) states 
that ore psallamus is to be found 
only in Daniel, he is not quite just, 
for this reading is found in several 
Mss, though none of them are very 
old. 



HYMN III. AMBROSE 35 

kHYMN 3 
■ [The following hymn is twice quoted in one epistle 
by Fulgentius (468-533) as the work of Ambrose. 
Ipsiim enim apostolica praedicat auctoritas splendoreni 
gloriae et figuram substantiae Dei; quod sequens beatus 
Ambrosius in hymno tnatutino splendorem paternae gloriae 
Filiuin esse pronuntiat {Ep. XIV. 10). Again, Hinc est 
quod beatus Ambrosius in hymno matutino huius nos 
postulare gratiam ebrietatis edocuit, dum dicimus : Laeti 
bibanius sobriam ebrietatem Spiritus {Ep. XIV. 42). The 
testimony of Fulgentius would itself be as good as that 
of any of his contemporaries. But the testimony is 
borne out by an allusion of Augustine's, Veni Medio- 
lanium ad Anibrosiuyn episcopum,... cuius tunc eloquia 
strenue tninistrabant adipem frumenti tui et laetitiam olei 
^^K^/ sobriam vini ebrietatem popjilo tuo {Conf. XIII. xiii. 23). 
^^» The style of the hymn itself is unmistakable, and the 
other canons of Biraghi hold good with regard to it. 

Aurelian orders that it should be sung at matins, 
alternately with Aeterne lucis conditor.^ 

Abcdgh EKacdhjlosvxAi Fabdhijknopsuyy^ Gabm Habcdefgir 
Ibcdeghininopv Mam Vabcpr 

Splendor paternae gloriae, 

de luce lucem proferens, 

2 praeferens ESv. 

I. Heh. i. 7, qui cum sit sfleitdor senipiternus, quasi uerbum, quasi 

gloriae eius\ VVisd. vii. 26 candor spletuior huis aeternae ; quia simul 

est enim lucis aeternae. In both splendor operatur,ut tiascitur. ih.ii. 

places the Greek has aira)jya<rfjui, prol. 8, IV. 108, in Ps. xxxvill. 24, 

'effulgence.' The eternal relation of XL. 35, xmi. i2,XLVii. 18, cxviii. 

the Son to the Father is often illus- xix. 38. Hex. vi. 42 splendor gloriae 

trated in early Christian writers by et paternae imago substantiae. The 

the relation of the rays of light to the first two stan/as are addressed to 

central source whence they stream. Christ. 

Ambr. frequently uses spletuior thus ; 2. Cp. the ' Nicene ' creed lumen 

e.g. de Fid. I. 79 dicet aliquis quo- de lumine; Sedul. Carm. i. 113 et 

modo generatus est Filius? quasi totum commune, Patris de lumine 

3—' 



36 



EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 



lux lucis et fons luminis, 
dies dierum inluminans, 

uerusque sol inlabere, 
micans nitore perpeti, 
iubarque sancti Spiritus 
infunde nostris sensibus. 

4 diem {^pro dierum) Ehs/t Fbhipuy Gb^ Igimv Vb. 
6 nitorem Gb. perpetim Echv Fb Gb Hd Iv. 



inluminas Vp. 



lumen', \ Esdras vi. 40 tunc dixisti 
de thesauris tuis proferri lumen 
luminosum. 

3. lux lucis] the Light which 
gives its character to all other light, 
without which there could be no 
light. The -que of v. 5 seems to in- 
dicate that lux, like sol, is intended 
to be a predicate, 'Come as the 
Light.' 

4. The variant diem dies i., though 
read by most modern editors, is not 
found in any of the early MSS, most 
of which give the certainly true text 
di^s dierum i. Participles used as 
adjectives regularly take a gen. 
Draeger i. p. 445?., Schmalz 367. 
Among many examples we find in 
Ambr. Hex. ill. 8 efficiens naturae, 
ib. V. 22 appetens cibi, ib. vi. 20 

futuri prouidens, de Fuga 6 fugi- 
tantes mundi; cp. de Res. 90, 133, 
etc. Kayser well says that the con- 
trast of the one eternal day with the 
countless earthly days makes us pre- 
fer the reading dies dierum. And he 
notes that the construction of the 
genitive with the present participle 
brings out well the abiding character 
and the constantly and changelessly 
returning power of bringing light 
held by the Son. The variant dies 
diem would be due to a misreading 
of the contracted form in which 
dierum would often be written ; and 
when elision was no longer in use, 
diem would be easier to sing and 
more natural to write than the longer 
dierum. 

5. Christ is the real sun, our sun 



in the heavens having but borrowed 
light and heat, the phrase coming 
from Mai. iv. 2 to which Ambr. con- 
stantly refers; cp. Hex., iv. 2 and 5, 
in Ps. XLiii. 6, cxviii. ii. g, viii. 51 
and 57, xii. 13 and 25, xix. 18 et tu 
surge uel media nocte...ut, dum oras 
node, ueri solis pectori tuo splendor 
inradiet; 97. i. 

uerus sol is nom. because it is 
part of the predicate, like tu lux 
re/ulge in the hymn before. 

inlabere] 'steal into our souls'; 
cp. Verg. Aen. in. 89 [Aeneas to 
the god Apollo] da pater augurium 
atque animis inlabere nostris; 89. 
10, 115. 19. 

7 . iubax] strictly ' the ray ' of early 
dawn; cp. Verg. Aen. iv. 130, Ju- 
venc. HI. I fuderat in terras roseum 
iubar ignicomus sol, 74. 14, Ambr. 
de Parad. 23 Christum, qui iubar 
quoddam aeternae lucis effudit. Hex. 
IV. I procedit sol magno iubare diem 
...conplens. 

8. infunde] 2. 22 note. /« Ps. 
CXVIII. vi. 9 m/ infundat sensibus...; 
xix. 30 \Dominus\ subito se apostoli- 
cis penetralibus inprouisus infudit ; 
in Luc. I. 34 cui Spiritus sanctus 
infunditur. This appeal to the Son 
to shed the rays of the Spirit upon 
us is perhaps based on Ambr.'s in- 
terpretation of Ps. XXXV. (xxxvi.) 10 
apud te est fons uitae etc. ; see de 
Spir. I. 152 f. 

9. et Fatrem] as well as the Son. 
For the rhetorical repetition see 
2.9. 

10 f. ' Let us call upon the Father 



HYMN III. AMBROSE 



37 



uotis uocemus et Patrem— 
Patrem perennis gloriae, 
Patrem potentis gratiae — 
culpam releget lubricam, 

informet actus strenuos, 
dentem retundat inuidi, 
casus secundet asperos, 
donet gerendi gratiam, 

mentem gubernet et regat 
casto fideli corpore ; 



lO 



IS 



9 ad (pro et) EKj, te Ecdhv/i^ 
12 religet Vbc et pluritni, redegit EKj, 

Edhjlv {-is Ec) Gb Hd Ibcdhmv. 

• 

...to banish afar guilt with its snares.' 
releget depends upon uocevitts: the 
mood is indirect jussive, to pass in- 
sensibly into the precative use, which 
seems more suitable in 2 1 f. gloriae 
looks back to line i , gratiae to the 
following words. 

12. lubricam always connotes 
an idea of danger, which is further 
brought out here by its emphatic 
place at the end of the stanza. The 
epithet is applied to the sin itself 
though more strictly applicable (as 
in 6. 25) to the occasion of sin or to 
the desires which lead to the sin; 
cp. Ambr. Epist. xxil. 4 aduersus 
lubricum saeculi htiius stabiles per- 
manserunt ,Vl . 13, 62b. 5,72.4,86.8. 

13. 'May He shape our actions 
into energy,' cp. in Ps. I. t2 actus- 
que formare, in Luc. i. 31 informa- 
tus a Domino, ib. IV. 50 moralem 
informet adfecttim . infer mare is one 
of Ambr. 'swords, cp. in Luc. II. 50, 
IV. 4, 13, 50, Hex. III. 19, 53, IV. 
13, V. 25, Epist. I. 31, VI. 105, IX. 
17, LIII. 2. 

14. inuidi] cp. Wisd. ii. 24 in- 
uidia antem diaboli mors introiuit 
in orbem terrarum, 6. 27, 31. 89, 
43. 16, 68. 8. Our ' malignant foe ' is 
probably here conceived of as in the 
form of a serpent ; cp. in Ps. .\LViii. 



Fbd Gabm Hce Id'gm Mm Vb. 
repellat (-et) Fb Gb Ih. 14 dentes 
J 8 castos Ad ESs<^, casto et Hd. 

8 Adam dente serpentis est uulne- 
ratus et obnoxiam hereditatem sue- 
cessionis humanae sua unlnere dere- 
liqtiit, ut omnes illo uulnere claudi- 
cemiis. de Abrah. ii.ty^ quia princeps 
mundi huius et uolucres caeli, spirt- 
tttalium nequitiae . . .uelut cadauera 
mortuorum dilacerent dente aspero. 
de Bened, Patr. 32 uulneratus dente 
serpentis. He is elsewhere described 
as a lion : 1 Pet. v. 8, 31. 90, 32. 
16, or as a wolf Joh. x. 1 2, 36. 4, or 
as a tyrant 109. 23. 

15. secundet] 'change for the 
better,' ' turn to good,' Verg. Georg. 
IV. 397 euentus .. .secundet, Aen. ill. 
36 secundarent uistis. 

1 6. gerendi] ' grace to act wisely ' 
used absolutely in the sense of rem 
gerendi, as in Cic. Pep. I. 8 in ge- 
rendo probabiles. 

17. mentem] 'the soul' as at 2. 
30. Ambr. often combines the two 
verbs ^/<^. and reg. as at Hex. i. 7, 
de Abr. II. 9 following the example 
of Cic. de Nat. D. I. 52 qui regat, 
qui gubernet quoted by Steier, who 
also compares ad Attic, xv^. ii. 1, 
pro Sulla 78. 

18. The body, the animal part of 
us, is the great hindrance to the soul 
in its aspirations after God, Rom. 
viii. 13. If therefore the flesh does 



38 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



fides calore ferueat, 
fraudis uenena nesciat. 

Christusque nobis sit cibus, 
potusque noster sit fides ; 
laeti bibamus sobriam 
ebrietatem Spiritus. 

laetus dies hie transeat, 
pudor sit ut diluculum, 



25 



23 uiuamus Es. sobria Gm Vr, sobrie EKchlo Fi Gb'' Habceir Id^mn^p 
Vb. 24 ebrietate Vr. 26 diluculo Eos Gb Hcd^e^ Mm (de 

luculo EKv). 



not seduce the soul [casta), and if it 
loyally obeys the promptings of the 
soul [fidelt), all is well. The use of 
two adjectives without et, qualifying 
one subst., is very rare in Latin, but 
we find it again at 91. 5, 109. 17. 
This passage is imitated in 46. 
2t f. 

20. 'The poison of false craft' 
is that of wrong doctrine, the prayer 
being that owr faith may not know 
it. Steier is wrong when he objects 
to this interpretation, explaining the 
poison as that of the devil, quoting 
several passages where uenenum is 
so used by Ambr. ; but among other 
passages cp. de Sp. 1. 17. Cp. Ambr. 
de Fid. i. 42 omnetn enim uim tune- 
norum suorum, 44 una perfidia... 
non dissimilis fraude, ill. 129; in 
Ltic. I. 3 uenenatus...adsertionibus, 
VII. 51; Epist. II. 28 imbuti animi 
infidelitatis uenenis; in Luc. Vll. 47 
haereticos . . .qui studio fraudis abiu- 
rant. uenena is thus used in the 
plural by Verg. and Hor. and often 
by Ambr. e.g. in Ps. xxxvil. 8, 
XLVIII. 8. 

nesciat] with ace. is very common 
in Ambr. e.g. in Ps. cxvill. vii. 31 
nescis illam caliginem noctis; cp. 
Verg. Georg. i. ^gi puellae \ nesciuere 
hiemem. Ronsch 373. 

21. Joh. vi. 50; Ambr. in Luc. 
VI. 74 nonne ipse te pauit? cibus 
eius uirtus est, cibus eius fortiludo 



est; Epist. Lxxvii. 5 bonus cibus 
omnium Christus est, bonus cibus 
est fides. 

23 f. ' Let us drink with joy the 
sober intoxication of the Spirit ' ; 
based on Eph. v. 18 nolite inebriari 
uino...sed implemini Spiritu sancto. 
Ambr. often refers to this bold 
phrase; de Cain i. 19 hcuc ebrielas 
sobrios fcuit, haec ebrietas gratiae 
non temulentiae est ; laetitiam gene- 
rat, non titubantiam, ib. 20 haec 
ebrietas pudiciticu custos est ; de Bono 
Mortis 20 feruentioris Spiritus ser- 
mo qui inebriat ; in Ps. I. 33 bona 
ebrietas, quae sobriae stabiliret 
mentis incessum ; CXVIII. xv. 28 hcu 
ergo ebrietate corpus tton titubat sed 
resurgit; cp. also the passages of 
Aug. and Fulg. (xiv. 42) quoted in 
the introduction to this hymn. For 
the combination bibamus ebrietatem, 
cp. de Isaac 50 anima haiisit mys- 
teriorum ebrietatem caelestium, and 
for the metaphorical use of ebrieta- 
tem, Ecclus. xxxil. 17 Dominum... 
inebriantem te ab omnibus bonis suis. 

ebrietatem] The accent falls on 
the i and tends to lengthen it. 

26. dilacolum] ' the twilight ' just 
before dawn. Ambr. may be think- 
ing in this beautiful line either of the 
shy retirement of modesty dwelling 
in the dim light, or of the purity of 
the first rays of dawn. Cp. Cant. vi. 
9 quaenam est haec prospiciens tarn- 



HYMN IV. AMBROSE 



39 



fides uelut meridies, 
crepusculum mens nesciat. 

aurora cursus prouehit, 
aurora totus prodeat, 
in Patre totus Filius, 
et totus in Verbo Pater. 



30 



29 aurorae Vr. prouehat (proueat) Abcg Fb Vap. 30 tota Ecdl, 

lotos Eo Habce-gir lo Vac. protegat Eo F^ Habce*gir lo, fulgeat Es. 



t/uam diluculum ? quoted by Ambr. 
de Bened. Patrutn 45. 

27. fides] unlike pndor, delights 
in the heat and light of noon; cp. 
calore fenteat, 19. 

meridies] Cp. Hex. iv. 22 in 
meridiano pascis...ubi fulget iudi- 
cium sicut meridies ; in Ps. CXVIII. 
ii. II Hits luces. Hits reftdges, illis 
calet gratia sicut meridies. 

28. crepusculum] strictly 'the 
dusk ' of evening, mens, ' the soul,' 
from which Ambr. prays that the 
light may never fade away ; cp. 6. 
19, 6. 32. 

29. cursus] p'ural in a singular 
sense as at Verg. Aen. in. 460, 686 
and Ambr. Hex. IV. 2 rapidis cur- 



sibus...lustret omnia; de Fid. Res. 
II. 31 anni cursus, 4tt. 3, 66. 2. 
Ambr. also uses Hex. v. %<jjletibus, 
in Luc. VII. 160 naturis etc. See 
Draeger I. 9 f., Schmalz 604, Steier 

643- 

30. For the gender of totus cp. 
ipse petra, 2. 15 note. This 'dawn' 
is Christ, as the following lines ex- 
plain. 

31 f. Cp. in Ps. XXXVI. 37 Pater 
Detis totus in Filio est et Filius in 
Patre; in /*j. XLVii. 18 qui ita ex- 
pressit Patrem ut in eo totus sit 
Pater sicut in Patre totus est Filius. 
The thought is of course taken from 
passages like Joh. xiv. 10. 



I 



Hymn 4 

Augustine definitely says that Ambrose wrote this 
hymn ; see de Natiira et Gratia 63 quern Spiritum memo- 
ratus episcopiis etiam precibiis impetrandum adnionet, tibi 
in liymno dicit : uotisque praestat sediilis sanctum mereri 
Spiritum. Even without his authority we might know 
from the style and from the treatment of the subject- 
matter that it came from Ambrose. 

Caesarius of Aries, in his Regula ad uirgines, and 
Aurelian both appoint it to be sung in primo die paschae 
ad tertiam, the latter adding cotidianis . . .diebus (i.e. on 
week days as opposed to Sundays and festivals) ad 



40 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

tertiam sex psalmos dicite^antiphonam, ymnum lamsurgit 
hora tertia. 

It does not seem to have passed into any later use, its 
place being taken by Certum tenentes ordinetn (52), lam 
sexta sensim uoluitur (55), and Rector potens, uerax Deus 

(17). 

The first line was borrowed with which to begin a 
Mozarabic hymn, also for terce, the first stanza of which 
runs thus ; lam. surgit hora tertia \ et nos intenti curri- 
mus, I psallendi opus implemus, \ Christum laudemus 
Dominutn ; see Analecta XXVII. 108. 

Abcdghk Vapr 

lam surgit hora tertia, 
qua Christus ascendit crucem ; 
nil insolens mens cogitet, 
intendat affectum precis. 

qui corde Christum suscipit, 5 

innoxium sensum gerit, 

uotisque praestat sedulis 

sanctum mereri Spiritum. 

7 perstat edd. 

I. surgit is used of time as at mundum; de Inst. Virg. 113 

116. 5, cp. 22. I and the note on 6. Christum intendat; in Ps. cxviil. 

10 noctis exortu. It is fairly common \ni. ^% haec diligenter intende. He 

of the coming of day (cp. Verg. also uses it with a following dative, 

Georg. in. 400 surgente die; Aen. and with ad or in followed by an 

HI. 588), less common of the several ace. 

hours. 5. Cp. Eph. iii. 17; Ambr. 

3. nil Insolens] 'no proud Epist. xxxvii. 22 qui Christum 
thought ' : the hour of Christ's hu- recipit. This we are invited to do 
miliation is no season for this. by a reminder of what took place dt 

4. affectum precis appears to the third hour. 

mean ' the mind to pray ' (cp. Hex. 6. For gerit thus used cp. de Off. 

V. 88 hoc canente deuotus adfectus 11. 68 sobrium gerere animum ; de 

exsilit ad precandum) and to in- Jacob \\. -jjo pacificum affectum gere- 

tendere this is to apply oneself to it, bat ; in Ps. xxxvi. 51 paenitentiam 

to give all one's attention to it. g.\ de Fuga Saec. ^T si geras Chris- 

Ambrose is given to constructing turn. 

intendere with an ace, as Hex. i. t 7. praestat] When praestare is 

Deum...ideam intendentem fecisse used with an infinitive or a depen- 



HYMN IV. AMBROSE 



41 



9 qua Vr. 
Abdgh Vap. 



haec hora, quae finem dedit 

diri ueterno criniinis, . 10 

mortisque regnum diruit 

culpamque ab aeuo sustulit. 

hinc iam beata tempora 
coepere Christi gratia, 

10 ueterni Vr. crimini Ab^cg Vap. 11 diluit 

13 hie Abcdg Vapr. 14 Christi coep. Acdgh Vapr. 



dent clause, the meaning seems to 
be connected with that use, common 
in classical Latin, where praestare 
aliquem or aliquid is * to be respon- 
sible for,' 'to undertake.' Thus Cic. 
pro Flacco 12 quid? nullos fore quis 
praestare poterat? 'Who could un- 
dertake that there should be none?' 
This passes into 'seeing to it that' 
etc. So Livy xxx. 30 says ne quern 
eius paeniteret,...praestili, 'I have 
made it my business, have seen to it 
that no one'; Ov. Trisl. v. xiv. 19 
nequispossittemerariadicereprcusta, 
'See to it that nobody'; Juvencus 
in. 462 nee minus in stratis aegros 
donare salute... praestat, 'makes it 
his business to give' ; Damasus IX. 2 
uiuere qui praestat morientia semina 
terrae, ' sees to it that they live.' 
Here praestat mereri will thus be 
'undertakes to gain,' 'makes it his 
business to win.' Perstat would 
make good sense, if it had any au- 
thority, but not one MS that I have 
seen contains it. The two words are 
often confused. In Prud. Symm. 11. 
991 in ordine recto praestat, the 
word seems to have become a 
synonym of perstat., which Dressel 
reads. 

8. mereri] 'win,' ' obtain.' Aug. 
quotes these lines (see intr. to this 
hymn) to shew that Ambr. held the 
belief that men can do nothing 
without the grace of God. Clearly 
he had no idea that nureri could be 
used against him in the sense of ' to 
merit.' Cp. Ambr. de Resur. 124 
post usutn iiota fastidiunt ; et quae 



optauimus mereri, cum nlenierimus, 
abdicamus; 41. 51, 63. 6, 102. 6, 
126. 22, 127. 33. Ronsch p. 387 
quotes Herm. Past. I. iii. i qui iam 
meruerunt Deum. The Greek «raT- 
a^iwdrjvai is used in a similar way. 

Spiritum] which was outpoured at 
this third hour, Acts ii. See Intro- 
duction to 16 below. 

9. 'This is the hour which...' 
fitiem dare in place of the more 

usual f. facere is a Vergilian phrase 
Aen. I. J 99, 241. It is found in 
Ambr. in Ps. .XL. 37, de Virginib. 
I. 15, Epist. VI. 9. 

10. uetemus] (i) 'old age,' 
Stat. Theb. vi. 94 \silu<i\ nee solos 
hominum transgressa ueterno \fer- 
tur auos : hence (2) 'lethargy,' 
'neglect,' Verg. Georg. i. 124 nee 
torpere graui passus sua regno ue- 
terno. (3) 'filth,' 'sin,' Prud. Cath. 
XI. 63 f. nam nunc renaitts sordi- 
dum I mundtis ueternum defmlit. 

11. mortis regnom] Cp. Wisd. 
i. 14, Rom. v. 14. 

12. aeuo] 'the world.' The more 
usual word is saeculum, but cp. 
Paulin. Nol. Carm. XV. 173 Christi 
Tnemor,'inmemor aeui; Sedul. Cflrw. 
III. JY2 in reliquum doctrina fluens 
decurreret aeuum; id. Hymn. I. 97 
toto credent ibus aeuo; 36. 23. 

13. Ilinc] 'with this hour.' For 
beata tempora cp. 116. 8. 

14. Christi gratia] Acts ii. 33. 
For the sense cp. Ambr. in Ps. 

cxviii. vi. 25 passus est Christus et 
omnia coeperunt noucu gratiaefecun- 
dari ger minibus. 



42 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



fidei repleuit ueritas 
totum per orbem ecclesias. 
celso triumphi uertice 
matri loquebatur suae : 
*en filius, mater, tuus,' 
apostolo * en mater tua,' 



15 



T5 fide Vr. 17 celsus Vr. 

15. fidei ueritas] a phrase used 
by Ambr. de Job III. 16, in Ps. 
XXVIII. 34, Epist. XXI. 12. It 
means the true faith. 

1 7. Triumphus in the sense of an 
instrument or monument of victory 
is not classical, and this is a singu- 
larly bold identification of the Cross 
with what it stood for : ' from the 
height of His ensign of victory.' 
Possibly 31. 87 is to be understood 
in the same way. That the Cross, 
apparently the token of shame, 
was really the sign of victory, is 
found in i Cor. i. 18, 23, Gal. vi. 
14, Col. ii. 15. Thus Peter's cross 
was a triumph (13. 3). This 
thought often recurs in Ambr. : 
cp. in Luc. VII. 5 ilk est... 
ecclesiae filius qui crucem trtum- 
phum putat, si uocem Christi triuni- 
phantis agnoscat ; X. 109 units Dei 
triumphus fecit omnes prope iam 
homines triumphare ; de Fide I v. 8 
triu7Hpho cnicis. So also Ambr. 
uses tropaeum, de Virginib. I. 7 
[Agnes] tendere Christo ...manus, 
tropaeum Domini signare uictoris; 
i.e. with outstretched arms she made 
the sign of the Cross. So too 
Prud. Cath. IX. 83 die tropaeum 
passionis, die triumphalem crucem; 
and 33. 2. 

18. Joh. xix. 26f. Cp. in Ltu. 11. 
1 nialuit. . .aliquos de suo ortu quam 
de matris pudore dubitare ; ib. 4 
Dominus ipse in cruce positus mani- 
festauit [Mariae uirginitatem], cum 
dicit matri: mulier, ecce filius tuus, 
deinde discipulo : ecce mater tua. 
de Inst. Virg. 46 f. ipse testis est 
Filius Dei, qui cum esset in cruce 
discipulum matri commendabat ut 



20 apostole omn. en om. Ah. 

filium, discipulo eam tradebat ut 
matrem...^'] dignum quippe erat ut 
qui latroni ueniam donabat, matrem 
dubio pudoris absolueret. dicit enim 
ad matrem : mulier, ecce filius tuus, 
dicit et ad discipulum: ecce mcUer 
tua. ipse est disci pulus cui mater 
commendatur...^^ testalur de cruce 
Dominus Jesus et paulisper publi- 
cum differt salutem, tie matrem in- 
honoram relinquat ; . . .legatur matri 
pudoris defensio, testimonium in- 
tegritatis. in Luc. X. 133 quo loco 
uberrimum testimonium Mariae 
uirginitatis adhibetur, neque enim 
abrogatur uxor marito, cum scrip- 
turn sit : quod Deus coniunxit homo 
non separet, sed quae propter myste- 
ritim coniugium praetexuit comple- 
tis mysteriis iam coniugio non egebat. 
Ambr. thought that Joseph was 
still living, as is to be seen from the 
passage just quoted and from in Luc. 
II. 4 numquam uirum propnum re- 
liquisset [Afaria], nee uir eatn iustus 
passus esset a se discedere. See also de 
Inst. Virg. ^2, Epist. i.\iii. 109 etc. 

20. I have written apostolo for 
apostole of the MSS; cp. in Ltu. 11. 
4 dicit matri : mulier, ecce filius 
tuus, deinde discipulo: ecce mater 
tua. Ib. X. 131 hie et in cruce non 
inmemor matris appellat eam dicens: 
ecce filius tuus, et lohanni : ecce 
mcUer tua. 

21. praetenta] lit. 'stretched in 
front of the mystery like a veil, to 
screen it ; from praetendere. Cp. 
Tert. Pudic. 17 omnes [epist ulae 
apostolicae^ pro pudicitia, pro casti- 
tate...praetendunt. The verb was 
especially in military use and a fa- 
vourite with Ambr. Ronsch p. 366 f. 



HYMN IV. AMBROSE 



43 



praetenta nuptae foedera 
alto docens mysterio, 
ne uirginis partus sacer 
matris pudorem laederet. 

cui fidem caelestibus 
lesus dedit miraculis, 
nee credidit plebs impia : 
qui credidit saluus erit. 



25 



21 praetentae Va. nupta Ad. 23 nee Adh. 25 in cael. Adgh. 



quotes several examples of its use by 
him. 

nuptae foedera] ' the covenant of 
a bride,' i.e. the bridal covenant. 

22. Mysterio is dative, governed 
hy praetenta. The mysterium was the 
secret of Christ's conception by the 
holy Spirit; cp. in Luc. X. 133 
quoted aljove, ^//5/. v. \^hissignis 
et ipsa Mariae tiirginitas apud ig- 
naros mysterii probri suspectabatur. 
The combination of altuin with 
mysterium is found in Ambr. de 
Cain I. 37, in Luc III. 35 and 
elsewhere ; and he has Epist. xviii. 
7 caeli mysterium doceat me Deus 
ipse. 

23. ne... laederet] i.e. in the 
opinion of the people, in view of the 
above passages ; otherwise the re- 
ference might have been, not to the 
purpose of the praetenta foedera, 
but to the manner of the birth : 
* that His birth (being a sacred and 
a virgin birth) might not impair His 
mother's purity.' This would fall in 
with Ambr.'s use oi pudor, e.g. 6. 
14, 18. 

25 f. 'Of which (i.e. His mira- 
culous birth and Godhead) Jesus 
gave proof by heavenly miracles ' ; 
a passage imitated by Sedulius, 31. 
45 f. miraculis dedit fidem habere se 
Dtum patrem. cui refers back to 
mysterio, or perhaps to u. partus 
sacer. 

25. cui] The tendency of late 



Latin was to resolve diphthongs. 
Thus Juvenal, Martial, Ausonius, 
Prudentius scan cM, Orientius cUt. 
But Prud. once scans it as a short 
monosyllable, Cath. III. 167. So 
Fortunatus scans cfiliis, vi. i. 135, 
vii. V. 22. 

fidem] 'proof,' the ground on 
which the belief is founded. Cp. 
12. 14, 31. 45, flex. IV. 15 hinc 
fidem suae disputationis arcessere. 

caelestibus . . . miraculis] C p . in 
Ps. cxviii. xxxiii. 6 crucem esse 
salutem mundi iestimoniis caeles- 
tibus adstruebut. The in of several 
Mss may have been inserted by a 
copyist who looked upon cui as a 
monosyllable. 

27. Joh.xii.37. plebs impia , the 
Jewish people, as at Niceta de 
Psalmod. Bono 6 (p. 74, ed. Burn) 
tiam et generatio eius exprimitur et 
reiectio plehis impiae et gentium 
hereditas nominatury cp. 108. 14. 

impia] failing in the special duty 
towards God of believing in His 
Son. Ambr. puts it more fully in 
the phrase Hex. I. 14 impii et in- 
fideles. 

28. [Mk] xvi. 16. Ambr. Epist. 
XXII. 21 audiuimus hodie dicentes 
eos, t/uibus mantis imponebatur, 
neminem posse esse saluum, nisi qui 
in Patrem et Filium et Spiritum 
sanctum credidisset. Perhaps the 
concurrence of the double u explains 
the lengthening of -uus. 



44 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



nos credimus natum Deum 
partumque uirginis sacrae, 
peccata qui mundi tulit 
ad dexteram sedens Patris. 



30 



29 dei Vap. 

29. nos] in emphatic contrast 
witii Jews and no doubt also with 
Arians, see Introduction, p. 17. 
'We for our part do believe the 
birth of God and that a sacred 
virgin bare [Him]'; cp. Damas. 
XCi. I f. qui natum passumque 
Deum repetisse paternas \ sedes atque 
iterum uenttirum ex aethere credit. 

31. Joh. i. 29 qui tollit peccatiim 
mundi. tuli, in meaning as in form, 
is often found as the perfect of tollo 
(though sustuli abstuli are the com- 
moner words) ; cp. amongst many 
instances in Ambr. in Ps. cxviii. 
xii. 47 uenit agnus Dei, qui tulit 
peccatum mundi; de Fuga Saec. 55 
dottec moriatur princeps sacerdotum 
qui tulit peccatum mundi, with 
Apol. David 73 qui p. m. abs tulit; 
in Luc. IV. 41 tolle martyrum cer- 
tamina, tulisti coronas; tolle cru- 
ciatus, tulisti beatitudines. So in 
the Vulgate Joh. xi. 39 f. tollite 
lapidem...tulerunt ergo; Lk. v. 24 f. 



32 sedit Vr. 

tolle ledum... tulit ledum. Sedul. 
Op. II. 12 tollit .. .quod quidem 
tulit. Fort. IV. X. 22 gaudia tot 
populis, heti, tulit una dies. 

peccata may he chosen instead 
of peccatum in order to avoid a 
spondee in the 2nd foot, but Ambr. 
uses the plural in the prose of in 
Ps. CXVIII. iii. 26 tulit peccata 
mundi. The plural passed into the 
Gloria in Excelsis, both in the Greek 
and in the Latin, not without a loss 
of some depth of significance ; see 
Westcott on St John I.e. 

32. [Mk] xvi. 19, Heb. i. 3. 

sedens] now, not at the time of 
tulit. Niceta is perhaps alluding to 
this line when he says de Psalmodiae 
Bono 7 (p. 74, ed. Burn) uirtutes 
Dotnini cantantur, passio ueneranda 
depingitur, resurredio glorlosa mon- 
stratnr, sedisse quoque ad dexteram 
nan tacetur. But the reference is 
more probably to the Te Deum 18. 



Hymn 5 

The evidence for Ambrose as author of this hymn is 
irrefragable. Twice Augustine refers to it as his : de 
Beata Vita 35 hie maier recognitis uerbis, quae suae me- 
moriae penitus inhaerebant, et quasi euigilans in fidem. 
suam uersuin ilium sacerdotis nostri : foue precantes, Tri- 
niias, laeta effudit. Conf. IX. 32 (after his mother's death) 
deinde dormiui et euigilaui et non parua ex parte miti- 
gatmn inueni dolorem memn, atque, ut eram in lecto meo 
solus, recordatus sum, ueridicos uersus A mbrosii tui : tu es 
enim Deus creator omnium .. . Augustine also twice quotes 



HYMN V. AMBROSE 45 

the first line without giving the writer's name {de Mus. 
VI. ii. 2, ix. 23), and often in the Confessions without even 
marking it as a quotation (e.g. IV. 15), and he twice men- 
tions it as part of a hymn (x. 52, XI. 35). 

As to its church use see the Rule of Caesarius ad uir- 
gines: ad uesperam siniili inodo in exteriori oratorio direc- 
taneus pariiulus dicatur et antiphonae tres, hymnus una 
die: Dens, qui cert is legibus, altera die: Deus creator 
omnium ; cp. the Rule of Aurelian cotidianis igitur die- 
bus... ad lucernarium omni tempore et festis et cotidianis 
diebus inpritnis directaneus, postea antiphonae duae, tertia 
semper cum alleluia dicatur, ymnus una die : Deus, qui 
certis legibus, alia die: Deus creator omnium et capitellum. 

Ambr. probably wrote it for daily use throughout the 
year and Ambrosian MSS give as rubric simply ymnus 
uespertinalis. It was adopted into the later hymnary 
and there assigned to vespers on Saturday. 'Its general 
use is on Saturdays from that preceding the ist Sunday 
after the Octave of the Epiphany to the Saturday before 
Quadragesima Sunday, both inclusive ; and from the 
Saturday preceding the ist Sunday in August to Advent.' 
(Julian p. 290.) 

It does not seem to have been adopted into the 
Mozarabic breviary, which however has a hymn Deus 
creator omniuju, \ lucis auctor et diei, \ per lustra cor da om- 
nium I lesu bone fidelium ; etc. this being appointed for 
lauds on Saturdays infra hebdomadam, i quadragesimae. 
Ambr.'s vesper hymn is not received into the modern 
Roman breviary. 

Biraghi's sub-title, ad horam incensi, i.e. * at the hour 
of lighting,' is a phrase resting on no MS authority, being 
derived from Ambr. de Virginib. III. 18 oratio nos crebra 
Deo commendet ;...certe sollemnes orationes cum gratiarum 
actione sunt deferendae, cum e somno surgimus . . .et hora 



46 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

incensi. Prudentius' evening hymn, from which 27 is 
taken, is entitled ad incensum liicertiae. The service at 
this hour was known in. the Greek Church as to \v)(yiK6v, 
in the Western Church as lucernare or lucernarium. See 
Aetheriae Peregrinatio LXXII. 5 hora autem decima, quod 
appellant hie Hcinicon, nam nos dicimus lucernare, simi- 
liter se omnis multitudo colliget ad Anasiasin, incenduntur 
omnes candelae et cerei^ etfit lumen infinitum. 

Abcdghik ENcdhjlsvx^ Fabknops Ga Habcdefghi 
Icdehnop Vacpr 

Deus creator omnium, 
polique rector, uestiens 
diem decoro lumine, 
noctem soporis gratia, 

artus solutos ut quies 5 

reddat laboris usui, 
mentesque fessas alleuet 
luctusque soluat anxios, 
4 gratiam Va. 

1. Cp. 2 Maccab. i. 24. mundi istius pulchritudinem...Ergo 

2. poll] See 2. 10 note. Earthly decortim hoc, quod in singulis mundi 
kings are redores mundi Ambr. in partibus elucebat, in uniuersi(ale 
Luc. IV. 37; cp. Verg. A en. viii. resplenduit. 

572 diuum tu maxime rector \ lup- 4. gratia] 'the gracious gift,' or 

piter. perhaps 'the kindly influence,' with 

uestiens] as with a garment ; cp. which cp. Keble's ' soft dews of 

Ps. ciii. 2, Verg. Aen. vi. 640 lar- kindly sleep.' Aug. Conf. ix. 32 

gior hie campos aether et lumine (see the introduction to this hymn) 

uestit purpurea. Ambr. often uses quotes the line as noctem sopora 

uestire metaphorically, e.g. Hex. gratia according to the best Mss. 
III. 47, 49, 52, 65, Epist. XXXIV, 7 5. Note the threefold use of 

caeli lumina.-.creaturae sunt...ser- soluere in these lines 'relaxed in 

uientes dispositioni creatoris aeterni, sleep,' 'disperse,' 'pay.' 
ministrantes splendorem quo ues- 6. Cp. Nicet. de Vigiliis \ nox... 

tiuntur atque die nocteque emicant. cunctos in somno detinet animantes. 

There is something of a zeugma in ut reparatis Jtiribus per soporem 

joining gratia and lumitte with ues- possint diurnos labores sustinere ui- 

tiens in the same way. gilantes . . .ergo diem ad opus, noctem 

3. Ambr, de Off. i. 221 est igitur fecit ad requiem, et pro hoc, sicut 
decorum quod praeeminet...Habes hoc pro omnibus, gratias debemus agere 
decorum generate, quia fecit Deus illi qui praestitit. 



HYMN V. AMBROSE 



A7 



grates peracto iam die 

et noctis exortu preces, lo 

uoti reos ut adiuues, 

hymnum canentes soluimus. 

te cordis ima concinant, 

te uox canora concrepet, 

te diligat castus amor, 15 

te mens adoret sobria : 

ut cum profunda clauserit 

II uotis Adh Fnps Vp. 13 concinat Eh Ga Ih Vr^, concinent Ejs 

(concinnent Fb). 14 sonora Ah Vap. increpet Ej. 17 vX {pro 

et) Abdh EKl Fb Gd Vap. profundo Ed. 



7. alleuet] ' relieve,' cp. 2. 4. 

8. anxlos] 'torturing,' much 
stronger than our anxious. Verg. 
Aen. IX. 89 sollicitain iimor anxius 
angit. 

9. 'We pay our thanks and 
prayers... that Thou wouldest help 
us who are bound by our vow.' 
The singers are regarded as having 
in the morning vowed to offer songs 
and prayers on being brought safely 
through the day. Now at evening, 
having obtained their petition, they 
acknowledge that the song and 
prayers are due. Catteiites is nomi- 
native and almost means ' by sing- 
ing.' The clause ut adiuues de- 
pends \x\iOX\ preces. The first stanza 
of 16 is constructed in .somewhat 
like manner. Not altogether unlike 
is Hex. V. 36 auium, quae cum etint 
cubitum, quasi peracto laetae munere 
aetkera caniu mulcere consuerunt, 
ut...laudes suo referant creator i. 
magnum igitur incentiuutn excitan- 
doe nobis deuotionis amiseram. qui 
enim stnsum hominis gerens non 
eruhescat sine psalmorum celebritate 
diem claudere, cum etiam minutissi- 
mae aues sollemni deuotiotte et dulci 
cannine ortus dierum ac noctium 
prosequantur f 

10. noctis exortu] an unusual 
phrase, almost 'at the dawn of 



night ' ; cp. Hex. v. 36 ortus dierum 
ac noctium ; 60. 1 1 . Ambr. brought 
up upon Verg. would remember 
Aen. II. 250 ruit oceanonox, ' night 
speeds up from ocean.' 

1 1 . uoti reos] a phrase borrowed 
from Verg. Aen. V. 237, where 
Cloanthus begs for the sea-gods' 
help : taurum \ constituam ante aras, 
uoti reus. Festus says : reus dictus a 
re quam promisit cu debet. With the 
old Romans a vow implied a con- 
tract between the vower and the 
god to whom the vow was made. 
If the god did his part, the vower 
was bound to do (reus) his. A geni- 
tive was used of that in which a 
person was thus bound. 

13. For the rhetorical repetition 
of te see 2. 9. 

cordis ima] ' the depth of the 
heart.' The use of a neuter plu. 
adj. followed by a gen. is a favourite 
usage of Ambr., cp. 26, 6. 27, and 
the many examples quoted by Steier 
64 1, " e.g. mentis (cordis) occulta, 
cculi alta, etc. 

14. concrepet] an emphatic word 
which has lost its moredetinitemean- 
ing ' rattle' (of arms etc.). Horace 
Od. I. xviii. 5 uses the simple cre- 
pare, ' harp upon.' Cp. 72. 12, 116. 
28. 

1 5. castas] Cp. 4. 28 saluHs. 



48 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



diem caligo noctium, 
fides tenebras nesciat 
et nox fide reluceat. 20 

dormire mentem ne sinas, 
dormire culpa nouerit, 
castis fides refrigerans 
somni uaporem temperet. 

20 fidei luceat Ecdlsvx Fkops Hcde^ Id'en Ver, fideli luc. EK' (fidelis 
S'') Fb Habce^fghi Id%op. 21 sinat Ec Fb Hh Vr. 22 culpam 

Ad Ehj Fb Id^n Vr. 23 casti Es, castus EX, castos Adh Ecdlvx Fbp 

Hacefi Idh. refrigeret Ex0 Fb (-rent Es). 34 uapore Vr. 



18. caligo] Cp. 2. 10 note, and 
observe the shortened a. 

noctium] ' of the night ' ; when 
no particular night is meant, the 
plural is common ; cp. Steier 643. 

19. fldes tenebras] strongly con- 
trasted as often in Ambr. e.g. 
3. 28. 

nesciat] See 3. 20 note. 

20. ' And may night be illu- 
mined with the light of faith.' Faith 
is as it were a torch in the darkness ; 
cp. 6. 32. 

2 1 . dormire] Cp. 2. 30 note ; de 
Inst. Virg. xvii. 1 1 1 uigilet cor 
eius, caro doriniat ; de Nab. 63 f., 
in Ps. cxvill. xii. 14. 

mentem] ' the soul.' This is to be 
kept awake (Cant. v. 2) ; sin {culpa 
as at 4. 1 2) is to be laid to sleep. 

ne sinas] 'suffer not.' This use 
of the 2nd pers. of the pres. subj. 
with ne is very rare in classical 
writers : but here we have a prayer, 
not a prohibition. 

22. nouerit] [Wal pole had count- 
ed sixteen places in Ambr.'s prose 
works where nosse is used with 
infin. ; e.g.] Hex. v. 6 ncmit ulcisci, 
ib. VI. 26 nouit temptare ; cp. Steier 
572, Verg. Aen. viil. 3(7. 

23. Literally ' may faith cooling 
the chaste allay the hot fumes of 
sleep.' Ambr. seems to be thinking 
of the bodily warmth that accom- 
panies sleep rising to overpower the 



soul and to set free the animal im- 
pulses. Cp. in Ps. XXXV. 25 node 
adtienit iiiiniicus et aduersarius, 
quando somno sensus tenetur, in Ps. 
XXXVI. 18 ne...ueniat tile qui cale- 
factitm corporis somno excitare 
consueuit. The evils are to be 
counteracted by the faith which 
realises even in sleep the presence 
of God, cp. 26. 28. refrigerare in 
classical Latin usually has a bad 
sense, 'chill,' 'numb.' But cp. Cic. 
de Sen. 46; 57 umbris aquisue re- 
frigerari. It usually takes an ace, 
as de Isacu 77 eos refrigerabat \ in 
Ps CXVIII. iv. 19 nos Domini crux 
refrigeret \ sometimes a dat. as here 
and at Tertullian ad Scapulam 4 
indigenlibus refrigeramus \ Ambr. 
Epist. LXiii. 69 quibus refrigera- 
bat aeternae spes gratiae ; see 
Rcinsch 378. 

24. uaporem] Cp. Sen. Hippol. 
(i\o pectus insanum uapor amorque 
torret. 

25. i.e. freed from the dangers of 
the waking state ; cp. Ambr. de 
Res. II. 21 quorum (i.e. of sleepers) 
animi ad altiora se subrigunt et re- 
nuntiant corpori. Just before he 
has spoken of the soul at death as 
depositis proprii setuus repagulis ex- 
pedita. Not that sensus is to be 
taken in the physical connotation: 
it is ' thought ' here as elsewhere. 
exutus is used thus in metaph., in 



HYMN V. AMBROSE 



49 



27 ne (pro nee) Va. 
Fabs Hb IcM Vap, 



exuta sensu lubrico 
te cordis ima somnient, 
nee hostis inuidi dolo 
pauor quietos suscitet. 

Christum rogemus et Patrem, 
Christi Patrisque Spiritum, 
unum potens per omnia, 
foue precantes, Trinitas. . 

29 rogamus Abdh Vap. 
32 faue Hdf Ih. 



25 



30 



31 unus Echjv 



Luc. X. no nodo mortis exuta. Cp. 
Verg. Aen. iv. 319 exue mentem. 

26. somnient] 'dream of,' with 
ace, cp. Ter. Eun. 194 me somnies, 
me exspectes, Tertull. de Fuga i 
scalae, quas somniat Jacob. 

2 7 f. ' Let not dread by reason of 
the craft of our malignant foe (the 
devil, as at 3. 14) arouse us from 
our quiet sleep.' 

bostis] de Int. David 11. 28 sit 
porta nostri oris et cordis clausa 
diligentius, ne hostis introeat. 

pauor... suscitet] Cp. Prov. iii. 
24 f. si dormieris, non timebis: ...ne 
paueas repcntino terrore. 

29. rogemus] [Walpole left it 
doubtful whether to read rogamus 
or rogemus. The surrounding pre- 
catives make it more likely that 
scribes would alter a to f than the 
contrary; and the indicative seems 
to give the better sense.] 

30. Christi... Spiritum] Actsxvi. 
7, Rom. viii. 9, Gal. iv. 6, Phil. i. 
19 ; Ambr. de Spir. i. 54 idem est 
Spirit us Dei,quicst Spiritus Christ i\ 
ib. 56 ; Epist. xxi. [Sei-m. 32), 
XXXVI. 3. Ambr. distinctly teaches 
the proce.ssion of the Spirit from the 
Son de Spir. i. 119 and 152; cp. 
Swete History of the Doctrine of 
the Procession p. 1 1 9 f. 



3r. unum] perhaps agrees with 
potens, the two words combining 
into one idea, 'one power,' these 
two words being in the accusative, 
in apposition with the foregoing. 

potens per omnia] ' all powerful,' 
'almighty.' Ambr. often uses per 
omnia thus, de Parad. 8 per omnia 
malum; ib. ^6 per omnia... coniunc- 
tissimus; Epist. LVlil. ro uirnudus 
per omnia. Cp. the Lat. versions of 
Acts xvii. 22, Heb. iv. 15, also 36. 
21. 

This line is imitated at 32. 23, 
44. 19, 48. 10. 

32. foue] a beautiful and expres- 
sive word, combining the ideas of 
nursing, as a mother nurses her child 
in her lap, and of keeping warm, as 
a hen keeps her brood warm by 
gathering them under her wings ; 
cp. Eph. v. 29 nutrit et fouet earn, 
si cut et Christ us ecclesiam ; i Thess. 
ii. 7 tamquam si nutrix foueat ftlios 
suos; 30. 25. It lost, however, some 
of its original delicacy of meaning 
and is used in the more general 
sense of 'protecting,' 81. 7, Aug. 
Conf. VII. 20 fouisti caput tuscientis. 
For the interesting reference which 
Aug. makes to this line see the 
introduction to this hymn. 



50 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

Hymn 6 

The authenticity of this hymn is more widely attested 
than that of any other of Ambrose's. Caelestine (Bp of 
Rome A.D. 422-432) presiding at the Council of Rome A.D. 
430, in his speech against the Nestorian heresy says(Mansi 
IV. 5 50) : recorder beatae memoriae A mbrosium in die na- 
talis Domini nostri lesu Christi omttem popiiliim fecisse 
una uoce canere : ueni Redemptor gentium, ostende par- 
tum uirginis, miretur omne saeculuni, talis decet partus 
Deum. numquid dixit, talis decet partus hominem ? ergo 
sensus fratris nostri Cyrilli in hoc, quod dicit deoroKov 
Mariam, ualde concordat: talis decet partus Demn. Deum 
partu suo uirgo effudit. 

Faustus (Bishop of Riez, died A.D. 492) Epist, Vll. ad 
Graecum Diaconum (p. 203 ed. Engelbrecht) nos uerum 
hominem et uerum Deum. nullo modo ambigimus confiten- 
dum. accipe etiam in hymno sacri antistitis et confessoris 
Ambrosii, quern in natali Dominico catholica per omnes 
Italiae et Galliae regiones persultat ecclesia : precede de 
thalamo tuo, geminae gigans substantiae. 

Facundus (Bishop of Hermiana in Africa, fl. 450, 
Migne LXVII. 540) unum de Trinitate credidi Dominutn 
lesum Christum... qui Patris existens unigenitus f actus sit 
unigenitus matris, ut geminae gigans substantiae, sicut in- 
tellexit et cantauit Ambrosius, utriusque uerae natiuitatis 
proprietate credatur. 

Cassiodorus (died about 570, Migne LXX. 79) in Ps. 
VIII. II ad fin.: beatus Ambrosius hymnum natalis Do- 
mini eloquejitiae suae pulcherrimo fiore compinxit, ut plus 
sacerdos festiuitate dignum munus offerret. . .ait enim : pro- 
cedat de thalamo suo, pudoris aula regia, geminae gigans 
substantiae, alacris ut currat uiam : et cetera, quae supra 
humanum ingenium^ uir sanctus excoluit. Again in Ps. 



HYMN VI. AMBROSE 51 

LXXI. 6 (ib, 509) hinc Ambrosiiis ille, quaedam ecclesiae 
candela, niirabili fulgore lampaiiit dicens: ueni Redemptor 
gent mm... 

Augustine has also been quoted as a witness Serm. 
T,y2 de Nat. Dom. IV. 3 /tunc nostri gigantis excursum bre- 
uissime et pulcherrmie cecinit beatiis Atnbrosius in hymno, 
quern paulo ante cantastis; loqiiens enini de Christo Domino 
sic ait : egressus eius a Patre, regressus eius ad Patrem, 
excursus usque ad inferos, recursus ad sedeni Dei. Again 
Semi, de Symbol. IV. 4 quis enim non expauescat, cum 
atuiit Deum natum ? audis fiascentem, uide in ipso ortu 
miracula facientem : aluus tumescit uirginis, claustrum 
pudoi'is permanet. But it is not quite certain that these 
passages are the genuine work of Augustine. It is perhaps 
against them that Faustus does not speak of the hymn 
as being sung elsewhere than in Italy and Gaul. How- 
ever Aug. Tract, in Ev. lo. LIX. 3 quotes the phrase ge- 
minae gigans substantiae, without mentioning the source. 
Cp. also Conf. IV. xii. 19. 

The Benedictine editors also quote Hildephons. de 
Partu Virg. : et ideo, quia nonfuii huiusmodi partus sacra- 
tissimae uirginis Mariae . . .canit et orat beatissimus Am- 
brosius : ucni, ait, Redemptor gentium, ostende partum 
uirginis... non enim ait: ostende conceptum uirginis, sed 
partum. See Daniel IV. 5 f. ; but it is now allowed that the 
treatise was not written by Hildephonsus. Sedul. Carm.U. 
44 f gives much of the wording of our hymn: tunc max i- 
mus infans \ intemerata sui conseruans uiscera templi \ in- 
laesum iiacuauit iter: pro uirgine testis \ partus adest, 
clausa ingrediens et clausa relinquens. \ quae noua lux 
mundo, quae toto gratia caelo? \ quisfuit ille nitor, Mariae 
cum Chris tjis ab aluo \ processit splendore nouo? uelut ipse 
decoro \ sponsus ouans thalamo. 

In the older MSS the rubric runs in {de) natali {tiati- 

4-2 



52 EARLY LA TIN H YMNS 

uitate) or ad natale Domini ; in the most ancient MS it 
runs Hymtius natali Domini dicendus. Somewhat later 
MSS add the particular office at which it was to be sung, 
thus e.g. Rheinau LXXXili written about A.D. looo adds 
ad noct. uel ad uesp. Mone (l. 43) notes : ' nach den Hss 
und Ausgaben wurde das Lied theils im Advent theils 
auf Weihnacht gesungen.' 

Aabcdefghik Eacdhjsvx/tt^ Fbdhiprs Gablm/x HacefghjS 
Ibdeghmnv Magkx Vabceprs 

Intende, qui regis Israel, 

super cherubin qui sedes, 

adpare Ephreni coram, excita 

potentiam tuam at ueni. 

ueni, redemptor gentium, 5 

ostende partum uirginis, 

miretur omne saeculum, 

talis decet partus Deo. 

8 deum Acgh Eacdvx^ Fip G/a Hgh Ibgmnv Mm Vacp'^. 

I. The first stanza is taken, Prud. Cath. xu. 41 f. hie tile rex 
almost as it stands, from Ps. Ixxix. est gentium \ populique rex ludaici. 
(Ixxx.) \{. qui regis Israel intetuk,... When elision was disused the lines 
qui sedes super cherubin, manifes- would become hard to sing, and 
tare coram Ephraim .. .excita poten- may thus have fallen out of use; or 
tiam tuam et ueni. This passage in some copyist may have deliberately 
the old Galilean use and in others omitted them, thinking ueni re- 
forms the antiphon for Advent demptor gentium a finer opening. 
Sunday; and excita quaesutnus Do- In any case, read as they are in all 
mine potentiam tuam et ueni was the Ambrosian MSS and in the 
(and in the Roman use is) part of ancient Vat. reg. ti, we must ac- 
the collect, which we now use for cept them as the genuine work of 
the fourth Sunday in Advent. The Ambr. 

stanza is an integral part of the 3. Eplurem] This (and cherubin 

hymn, Ambr. incorporating the as above) appears to be the usual 

words of Scripture, just as he does spelling in the Old Latin version 

at 7. 17 f. He prays that Christ may and in early writers, 

come as the shepherd of Israel, in 4 f. ueni, ueni] repeated in 

the next stanza that He may come Ambr.'s manner, 

as Redeemer of the Gentiles. The 6. i.e. shew all men that a 

two ideas are often combined in virgin has brought forth. 

IS'.T. and even in O.T., cp. Ps. 8. Aug. 5«r/«. CLXXXVi. i Z>«<w 

xcvii. (xcviii.) 2f., Mt. x. 5, xv. sic nasci oportuit, quando esse dig- 

22, 24, Lk. i. 33, Ac. xiii. 46. natus est homo. Leo Serm. XXI. 2 



HYMN VI. AMBROSE 



S3 



non ex uirili semine, 
sed mystico spiramine 
Verbum Dei factum est caro, 
fructusque uentris floruit. 

aluus tumescit uirginis, 
claustrum pudoris permanet, 
uexilla uirtutum micant, 



lO 



15 



II om. est Ag Eacdsv/x Fhs Icdgv Mm. 14 claustra... permanent 

Edsvx/t Fihmp Gab Hce^/3 Ih. 15 uirtutis Fs Gab Idehm Vbs, 

uirtute Mgk Vapr. micat Ec Hh. 



talis natiuitas dectiit Dei uirtutem 
et Dei sapientiam Christum. See 
also Caelestine's words quoted in 
the introd. to this hymn. 

decet] usually takes an ace. , "but 
is found with a dative in Terence, 
Sallust and other writers ; see 
Rdnsch. p. 439. Ambr. de Fug. 
Saec. III. 16 twice over quotes talis 
nobis decebai princeps sacerdos. 

[9. non ex u. s.] Ambr., like 
Tert., read the verb in Joh. i. 13 
in the sing., as applying to our 
Lord. See in Ps. xxxvii. Praef. 5 
qui non ex sanguinibus, neqtie ex 
uoluntate carnis, neque ex uoluntate 
uiri, sed de Spiritti sancto natus ex 
uirgine est.'\ 

10. spiramine] the Spirit in ac- 
tion ; Lk. i. 35. Ambr. uses the 
word de Bono Mortis 19 ; cp. 4 
Esdras xvi. 63 spiramen Dei omni- 
potentis qui fecit omnia. Juvenc. I. 
340 abluet ille hominis sancto spira- 
mine mentem. Prud. Cath. ix. 47, 
Apoth. 170, 758. 871, Psych. 421, 
717, Perist. X. 985. 

11. Joh. i. 14, often quoted by 
Ambr. 

12. fructUB uentris] Ps. cxxvi. 
(cxxvii.) 3, cxxxi. (cxxxii.) 11, Lk. i. 
42 ; Ambr. in Luc. 11. 24 ipse 

fructus uentris esi...flos Mariae 
Christ us, qui ueluti bonae arboris 

fructus .. .nunc floret, fr. uentris 
is, of course, predicate. [The word 

floruit doubtless contains an allu- 
sion to Is. xi. I, where the LXX 



has aivdos iK t^s ^^ff?? aKa/SiJffetot, 
though the Latin versions translated 
otherwise.] 

14. claustrum pudoris] 'the 
barrier of chastity,' seems to be 
used in a physical and literal sense 
here and de Inst. Virg. vill. 52 
quae est igitur haec porta ? [cp. 
Ezek. xliv. 2] porta igitur Maria, 
per quam Christus intrauit in hunc 
mundum, quando uirginali fusus 
est partu et genitalia uirginis 
claustra non soluit. mansit interne- 
ratuvi septum pudoris. See among 
many like passages of Ambr. de 
Inst. Virg. 52, 58, 60, 62, in, 
Epist. V. 9, XLll. 6f., LXill. 33; 
c p. 31. 9, 39. 4, 88. 4, and contrast 
9. 10 (note). 

15. uexilla] The word usually 
means a military ' ensign,' ' flag,' 
and in a Roman legion each squadron 
of horse had its uexillum. But in 
particular it was a red flag hung out 
over the general's tent as a signal 
for battle ; cp. Caes. Bell. Gall. ll. 
20 uexillum... quod erat insigne, cum 
ad arma concurri oporteret. Here 
uexilla uirtutum might mean ' the 
standards of the heavenly powers ' ; 
for uirtutes in the Latin versions 
translates Sucd/uety of the Greek e.g. 
I Pet. iii. 22 ; cp. Ambr. in Luc. i. 
25. But other passages in Ambr. 
point decisively to another meaning: 
de Inst. Virg. 35 egregia igitur 
Maria, quae signum scurae uirgini- 
tatis extulit et intemeratcu inte- 



54 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



uersatur in templo Deus. 

procedat e thalamo suo, 

pudoris aula regia, 

geminae gigans substantiae ; 

alacris occurrat uiam. 20 

17 procedens Aabcdefgh Eadsvx/U0 Fips Gabl H/3 Ibdg'hmv Mgkm Vbs, 
procedit G/t Icg% Vacp. de (pro e) Ecdvx^ Fi Gb Ih Vbs. 20 ut 

currat Ih Va. 



gritatis...u€xillum erexit ; de Vir- 
ginib. II. 15 quantae in una uir- 
gine species uirtutum emicant I 
secretum uerecundiae, tiexilltim 
fidei, deuotionis obsequium. Although 
she is a mother, the Virgin's purity 
remains inviolate and the banners of 
her many virtues gleam forth ; and, 
as the flag over the palace announces 
the prince's presence, even so these 
banners of purity announce the 
presence of God in His mother's 
womb. 

16. uersatur] perhaps, coming 
as it does midway between tumescit 
and procedat, denotes the near ap- 
proach of birth. 

templo] It is not walls that give 
its character to a temple, but the 
presence of God, and therefore this 
' royal court ' is rightly called ' a 
temple,' with special ref. to Ps. x. 
(xi.) 5, Hab. ii. 20, Mai. iii. i ; cp. 
Ambr. de Spir. 111. 80 Maria erat 
temphim Dei; in Ps. XLV. 13 ad- 
mirabile temphim Dei et aula cae- 
lestis; de Inst. Virg. 33, 105, etc. 

17 f. Ps. xviii. (xix. ) 6 ipse tam- 
quam sponsus procedens de thalamo 
suo : exsultauit tit gigas ad curren- 
dam uiam. Ambr. quotes this verse 
in Ps. XLiii. 28, cxviii. vi. 6, de 
Inst. Virg. 6, de Incarn. 35. 

17. Most of the MSS read/roc^- 
dens, but this would give a spondee 
in the 2nd foot of the verse and is 
no doubt due to procedens in the 
psalm. The evidence iox procedat is 
more ancient than that for procedit, 
which perhaps comes from the sur- 
rounding indicatives and which 



would clash with the strongly at- 
tested occurrat in 20. Note that 
Ambr. as usual (nee Steier 582, 595, 
6 1 3 , 63 3) slightly alters the Scripture 
quotation. 

18. The phrase 'the royal court' 
was for Ambr. a regular synonym 
for Mary; e.g. in Luc. X. r32 quia 
cognouerat per Filii mortetn viundi 
redemptionem, aula regalis putabat 
se et sua morte publico muneri ali- 
quid addituram. Cp. de Inst. Virg. 
79, 105, Epist. XLii. 7, Lxiii. no; 
Hildebert (quoted by Trench in) 
intra uirgineum decus, intra clau- 
stra pudoris, colligit angelicam uir- 
ginis aula rosam. 

19. Ambr. regarded the giants of 
Gen. vi. 4 as 'of two-fold nature,' 
earthly and heavenly, ' the sons of 
God' being the angels. Leporius 
(the convert of Augustine, fl. 425) 
alludes to this stanza in his retrac- 
tation (Migne xxxi. 1 225 f. ) : ideoque 
una persona accipienda est carnis et 
uerbi, utfideliter sine aliqua dubita- 
tionecredamus unum eundemqiie Dei 
Filium inseparabilem semper, ge- 
minae substantiae etiam gigantem 
nominatuni. 

substantiae] 'nature.' So Ambr. 
Hex. III. 32, de Incarn, 77. 

20. alacris answers to exsultauit 
of Ps. xviii. 6. This form of the 
masculine is found in Verg. Aen. v. 
380, VI. 685. The Thesaurus gives 
references to three other passages 
where it is found. The ancient 
grammarians discussed the correct- 
ness of it. 

occurrat u.] If this reading is 



HYMN VI. AMBROSE 



55 



egressus eius a Patre, 
regressus eius ad Patrem, 
excursus usque ad inferos, 
recursus ad sedem Dei. 

aequalis aetemo Patri 
carnis tropaeo accingere, 

26 cingere (pro ace.) Aabdefg E0 Gl/i Hgh Mm Vapr. 



25 



right, the verb appears to be used 
in the sense of ' entering upon ' the 
course ; but it would not be easy to 
find a parallel to it. Ambr. may 
have taken the word from the next 
verse of the Ps., where occursus 
represents KaravTrjiMa, the arrival at 
the goal ; if so, he misunderstood 
it. 

21 f. Still from Ps. xviii. a summo 
caelo egressio eius: et occursus eius 
usque ad suvimum eius; cp. Joh. 
xvi. 28.- This application of the 
psalm goes back to Irenaeus (see 
Haer. iv. xxxiii. 13, d% ivdei^iv 85) 
and to Justin [Apol. 54, Dial. 64, 
69). Lines 21, 22 give the starting- 
point and the end of the course : 
33, 24 contrast its nadir and 
zenith. 

23. Ambr. in Ps. XLlii. 84 Do- 
tninus in infernum descendit, ut et 
illi qui in inferis erant a uinculis 
soluerentur. The clause descendit 
ad inferna had already found a 
place in the creed of Aquiieia, and 
was probably known to Ambr. ; cf. 
Rufinus in Symbol. 14. 28. 

25. Ambr. often recurs to this 
dogma as Epist. viil. 37 Palladius 
dixit: 'Pater tnaior est Filio.^ 
Ambrosius episcopus dixit: '■secun- 
dum carnein Filius minor est Patre, 
secundum diuinitatem aequalis est 
Patri' r Epist. XLViii. 4 Filium... 
coaetemum Patri... aequalem Patri 
secundum diuinitatem. 

25 f. ' Coequal with the eternal 
Father Thou girdest thyself (or, as 
in V. 5, 'gird thyself) with the 
trophy of flesh, strengthening the 



weakness of our body with power 
that shall never fail.' 

26. The flesh is here regarded as 
a tropaeum, because it is the ever- 
lasting monument of His victory 
over Satan and death : a Tpbiraxov 
Kard. daifi^vwv answering to the 
Tpbiraiov kclt' ix^P^" of which we 
read so much in Thucydides. As 
the ref. here is to the moment of 
the incarnation, it is only by antici- 
pation that it is called a tropaeum. 
Clichtov. says Christus per camem 
assumptam debellato diabolo victor 
euasit, ipsamque glorificatam car- 
nem caelo tandem intulit. Cp. Ambr. 
in Luc. X. 170 talem (i.e. in corpore') 
sibi Pater ad dexleram heat tropaea 
nostrae salutis amplectens. Paulin. 
Nol. Natal. XI. 654 corporeum 
statuit caelesti in sede tropaeum \ 
uexilluMique crucis super omnia si- 
dera fixit. Aug. Serm. CCLXIII, i 
tropaeo suo diabolus uictus est. 
Prosper de Prouid. 444 et de carne 
nouuin referentem came tropaeum. 
For tropaeum, of that which appeared 
to be an element of weakness, but 
which was really a sign of victory, 
see 4. 17 note and 33. 2. 

26. accingere, which is so well 
attested and which entails an elision 
that in the course of time would on 
this account cause trouble in the 
singing, is more likely to be the 
original word than cingere. Ambr. 
uses accingi, as in Ps. cxviii. x. 9 
in adiumentum cucingere, qui ac- 
ciuctus es ut creares; in Luc. \\. 
70 ; de Virginib. I. 46 *, but he does 
not appear to use the simple cingi. 



56 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



infirma nostri corporis 
uirtute firmans perpeti. 

praesepe iam fulget tuum 
lumenque nox spirat nouum, 
quod nulla nox interpolet 
fideque iugi luceat. 



30 



28 perpetim Ev Gab H/3 Mg. 
(-pellat Fb) Gb Idh Mg Vbs. 
iugis Ev Fh. 

27, 28 reappear at 118. 15, 16. 
Nostri c. seems to mean 'Thine, 
which is of the same nature as ours.' 

29. The prayer in stanza li (re- 
peated in stanza v) has been heard ; 
the processes of stanzas in and IV 
are accomplished : Christ lies in the 
manger. That He was born in the 
night is seen from Lk. ii. 8. Ambr. 
is fond of alluding to the manger, as 
pointing the contrast between the 
humiliation of Jesus as man and 
His majesty as God ; e.g. in Luc. 
II. 42 quia in pannis est uides, 
quia in caelis est non uides; infantis 
audis uagitus, non andis bouis 
Dominum agnoscentem viugitus : 
agnouit enim bos possessorem suuin 
et asina praesepe domini sui, immo 
praesepium dixerim ;.. .quanta niagis 

nos neglegere uerba debeinus, spectare 
niysteria, quibus uincit sermonis 
utilitas, quod operum miracula di- 
uinorum nuUis uenuslata sermoni- 
bus ueritatis suae luniine refulse- 
runt !... hie est Dominus, hoc praesepe, 
quo nobis dininum niysterium reue- 
latum est; cp. 8. 12 and in later 
hymns 31. 23, 33. 13, 38. 17. 

30. lumen... nouum] 'an un- 
wonted light,' ' a light unknown 
before ' ; cp. Ambr. in Ps. xxxviii. 
1 8 uetus dies praeteriit, nouus uenit. 
alius enim dies hominis, alius dies 
Christi...de quo et Dauid ait...sanc- 
tus ergo in die Domini exsultat, in 
die nouo, in quo Dew: Dominus in- 
luxit nobis et dedit nouam lucem 
in innoxiam uitam et integram re- 



31 interpolat Eacdhjsv^u Fh^rs 
32 fides Ev Fh Gb Mk, fidei Fs Vaps. 



forntatis. ideo uir iustus securus 
nouae lucis et gratiae Dei dicit : 
erit mihi caelum nouum et terra 
noua et nouum lumen; referring in 
these last words to Rev. xxi. 1, 
xxii. 5. So too Sedul. Carm. il. 
48 f. (quoted in the introduction to 
this hymn), id. Op. 11. 4 quae nouae 
lucis ilia tunc claritas mundi totius 
or as ifnpleuit! quae caelo laetitia! 
quis ille nitor effulsit, cum Christus 
splendore sidereo, uelut sponsus 
procedens de thalamo suo, Mariae 
processit ex utero. Trench quotes 
Euangel. Infant. 3 ecce repleta erat 
ilia luminibus, lucernarum et can- 
delarum fulgoribus excedentibus et 
solari luce maioribus. But Ambr. is 
hardly thinking of such a light as 
this. Rather cp. in Ps. cxviii. xii. 
1 3 ortus ex uirgine processit ex aluo 
uniuersa totius orbis irradians, ut 
luceret omnibus. De Isaac 31 in 
praesepi erat et fulgebat e caelo ; in 
Luc. II. 43 terreno in deuersorio 
iacet, sed caelesti lumine uiget. 

31. 'May no night break into 
(interrupt) it, and may it shine with 
a continuous stream of faith ! ' the 
prayer being for faith in this life. 
interpolarc is a favourite word with 
Ambr., cf. Hex. iv. 22 magna lux 
diuinitatis, quam nulla umbra mor- 
tis interpolet; in Ps. cxviii. xii. 
X 3 fulgoris perpetui claritatem , quam 
nulla nox interpolat ; xiii. 8 lumen 
...quod nullae tenebrae noctis in- 
ter polent; Epist. xxii. 6 dies, quos 
nulla caligo noctis interpolat. 



HYMN VII. AMBROSE 57 

32. fide...luceat] Ambr. in Ps. de Abr, ii. 22, with ^a/« ib. 57, 

xxxvii. -21 ideo fit persecution ut with exercitio ib. 76, with labor 

fides lucent; cp. 3. 27, 8. 19. Hex. V. 52, ^\\h /antes ib. VI. 71. 

iugri] one of Ambr.'s favourite See 1. 29 (note), 8. 28, 49. 28, 92. 

words; thus he joins it with /a^/iV/a 14; Ronsch ii8f. 



Hymn 7 

This hymn is not ascribed to Ambrose by any ancient 
authority, but it is his. It is in the Ambrosian MSS and 
above all the manner and style are those of Ambrose 
himself. Augustine refers to it, though he does not name 
the writer: cp. Conf. XI II. 29 quibus iam terra non indiget, 
quamuis piscem manducet leuatum de pro/undo in ea mensa, 
quam parasti in conspectu credentium. This is just like 
Augustine's manner of allusion. And leuare is not a very 
obvious word of fishing : the word used in Mt. xvii. 27, 
for example, is tolle. 

As in 6 we have the quotation almost verbal of a 
passage of Scripture, so here (17 f) we have the verbal 
quotation of the first two verses of St John's Gospel. 
At the same time two passages from Ambrose's prose 
show the supreme importance attached by him to the 
whole of the words thus quoted. See in Luc. I. 13 tinea 
haereticus est, tinea Photinus est, tinea tua Arrius est. 
scindit uestimentum qui separat a Deo uerbum. scindit 
Photinus, cum legit: in principio erat uerbum et uerbum 
erat apud Deum. et Deus erat; integrum enim uestimentum 
est, si legas : et Deus erat uerbum. de Fide I. 56 f omnes 
haereses hoc capitulo breui piscator noster exclusit. quod 
enim erat in principio non includitur tempore ; ergo Arrius 
conticescat. quod autem erat apud Deum, non permixtione 
confunditur, sed manentis uerbi apud Patrem soltda per- 
fectione distinguitur ; ut Sabellius obmutescat. et Deus 
erat uerbum : non ergo in prolatione sermonis uerbum est, 
sed in ilia caelestis designatione uirtutis ; ut confutetur 



58 EARLY LA TIN H YMNS 

Photinus. quod uero erat in priticipio apud Deum, sempi- 
terna diuinitatis in Patre et Filio inseparabilis unitas 
edocetur ; ut erubescat Eimomius, postremo, cum omnia 
per ipsum facta dicantur, ipse conditor noui utique testa- 
menti et ueteris designatur ; ut Manichaeus locum tempta- 
tionis habere nan possit. ita piscator bonus intra unum 
omnes rete conclusit, ut faceret inhabiles fraudi, quamuis 
essent inutiles captioni. See also in Luc. II. 40, X. 118; 
in Ps. CXVIII. xiv. 23; de Interp. lob I. 31, II. 15, de 
Incarn. 15 f. Line 21 is separately quoted Hex. I. 15, in 
Ps. XXXVI. 35. 

Aabdefghik Fs Vaps 

Amore Christi nobilis 
et filius tonitrui 
arcana lohannes Dei 
fatu reuelauit sacro. 

captis solebat piscibus 5 

patris senectam pascere ; 

1. amore Cliristi] Joh. xiii. 23, reuelauit mysterium ; often used by 
xix. 26, xxi. 7, 20. Ambr. 

2. filius tonitrui] Mk iii. 17. For the sense of the whole stanza 
tonitrus is the usual form of the cp. de Inst. Virg. 46 (of John) iste 
gen., but the bye-form from toni- dilectus Domini., qui e pectore eius 
trttumoT tonitruus{Sed\\\. Cartn.W hauserat secreta sapientiae et piae 
15) is the form constantly found in uoluntatis arcana; Epist. Lxv. 4 
the versions of the N.T. sapientia autem Dei Christus, in 

3. arcana] Cp. Ambr. Ap>ol. cuius pectore recumhebat lohannes, 
Dauid 58 secreta et arcana sapien- ut de prituipali illo secretoque 
iiae', in Ps. CXVIII. ii. 29 digtnis... (1/onte) sapientiae hausisse diuina 
cui committerentur arcana sapien- proderetur mysteria. denique ipse 
tiae. The secret which Ambr. has conscius muneris hoc scripsit. 

in mind is already the doctrine of 6. patris senectam] ' his aged 

Joh. i. 1-14. father.' For this use of an abstract 

4. fatu] 'in sacred utterance,' a with a dependent personal gen. cp. 
rare and solemn word suited to Phaedr. 11. v. 23 turn sic iocata est 
divine oracles ; used by Ambr. de tanti maiestas ducis ; Sedul. Carm. 
Fide I. 106. Cp. Prud. Apoth. 594 i. 267 coniugii fidem, ' a faithful 
promite secretos fatus (the prophe- wife.' So too Propert. HI. xviii. 15 
cies of Isaiah). patria senecta, 'her aged father.' 

reuelauit] Cp. de Noe Vlil. 26 Fortunatus has in like manner v. 



HYMN VII. AMBROSE 



59 



turbante dum natat salo, 
inmobilis fide stetit. 

hamum profundo merserat, 
piscatus est Verbum Dei, 
iactauit undis retia, 
uitam leuauit omnium. 



lO 



7 nautat Fs^ Vs, nutat edd. salum Vap^ i j hominum Abefgh. 



iii. 3 curua senedus; Vit. Germ, 
XII. 41 pernoctabat algida senedus. 
The phrase pat rem pascere is found 
in Luc. VIII. 75, Hex. v. 55. 

7 f. Though John was tossed on 
the sea, his faith stood firm. Lines 7 
and 8 are thus sharply contrasted. 
See de Virg. xx. esp. 131 uide 
quid piscator etiam iste profecerit. 
dum in mart lucrum suum quaerily 
uitam inuenit omnium ; lembum 
deseruit, Deum repperit ; scalmum 
reliquit, uerbum inuenit ; Una lax- 
auit,fidem retiinxit ; plicauit retia, 
homines eleuauit ; mare spreuit, 
caelum adquisiuit. hie ergo piscator, 
dum ipse turbato agitatur salo, 
mobili mentes statione nutantes fun- 
dauit in petra. 

turbante is used intransitively, 
as at Lucr. 11. 126, Verg. Aen. vi. 
800, 857. 

natatj the reading of the MSS is 
suitable here, natare being used 
both of physical and mental dis- 
turbance ; cp. Ov. Met. V. 72 oculis 
sub node natantibus atra \ circum- 
spexit ; and in Ambr. himself de 
Bono Mortis 12 leuior fabulis et 
fluitans et natans uerbis. Biraghi 
conjectures nutat to match the 
above prose passage, and is followed 
by Dreves and Steier. 

8. inmobilis contains the idea of 
steadfast perseverance. Cp. Tac. 
Hist. IV. 2 tristes et truces et ad- 
uersus plausus cu lasciuiatn insul- 
iantis uulgiinmobites. Ambr. Epist. 
II. I inter tot viundi J ret a... in- 
mobilis mand...alluitur undis, non 



quatitur. Ambr. often combines it 
withyJiafej, as here, in Ps. .XLVii. 6 
[apostolt] inmobiles Jidei seruauet unt 

fundamentum, tie ecclesia tota nu- 
taref, in Ps. LXi. 18 inmobilis ergo 

fide Steplianus inmobilem Christum 
uidebat ; and fides with stare e.g. 
in Ps. XXXV. 29 tton corpore sed 

fide stabcU. 

10. Ambr. Hex. v. i"] euangelium 
est mare, in quo piscantur apostolt, 
in quod mittitur rete ; de Isaac 40 
lohannes, qui uerbum apud Patrem 
inuenit; c^.deVirg. 119. Thesymbol 
IX9TC with the representation of a 
fish is often found on ancient mo- 
saics etc. and is explained as con- 
taining the initials of iT/ffoCj Xptarij 
9eou Tidj Cwrijp. See Brockhaus 
280 f. ; Kraus s.v. Fisch ; Smith 
Did. of Christian Antiquities s.v. 
Eucharist and Fish. Here the 'fish' 
appears to be the doctrine of the 
person of Christ rather than Christ 
Himself. Cp. Tert. de Bapt. 
uerbum Dei J J oh. i. i. 
12. uitam... omnium] Joh. vi. 
57, xi. 25, xiv. 6; 10. 27 f. See <if 
Virg. XX. 131 quoted above on 
V. 7. 

leuauit is a word carefully chosen ; 
cp. Hex. V. 15 bonum piscem nee 
retia inuoluunt, sed eleuant, nee 
hamus internecat atque interficit ; 
de Virg. 119 ut . . .Stephanum de 
mari elettet. . .qui. ..non reti sed hamo 
leuatur; ib. 131 quoted on line 7. 
For the allusion by Aug. Conf. xiii. 
29 to this passage see the introduc- 
tion to this hymn. 



6o 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



piscis bonus pia est fides 

mundi supernatans salum, 

subnixa Christi pectore, 15 

sancto locuta Spiritu : 

* in principio erat Verbum, 

et Verbum erat apud Deum, 

et Deus erat Verbum, hoc erat 

in principio apud Deum. 20 

omnia per ipsum facta sunt.' 

se laudet ipse, se sonet, 
et laureatus Spiritu 
scriptis coronetur suis. 

14 salo Fs Vs. 15 pectora Aab^defgh. 16 sancta Aab Vap. 

22 se laudet ipse sonet Fs Vs, sed laude ipse se sonet Vap, sed (et Afh) 
laude ipse resonet Aabdefgh. 

13. The mode of expression re- 
minds us of quite another one in Luc. 
VII. 1 16 passer bonus est. 

pia] displaying the duty and love 
due from child to parent or from 
parent to child :— whether our duty 
towards God 29. 40, 52. 2, 92. 1 ; 
or His love towards us, 31. 78, 36. 
3, 60. 3, 63. 5, 65. 13 etc. It will be 
seen that the latter use largely pre- 
ponderates in these hymns. It often 
means ' pious,' ' sacred ' as at 9. 4, 
11. I, 12. 5 etc. 

14. The comparison of this world 
to a troubled sea is often found ; 
cp. (ie Virg. 1 1 8 naiiis ecclesia est, 
quae... in hoc bene nauigat mundo; 
33. 29 (note). 

salum is found in all the good 
MSS, the intransitive natare be- 
coming transitive when compounded 
with the prep, super. In like manner 
an ace. is found after superambulare 
(Sedul. Carm. in. 226), supercalcare 
(Prud. Psych. 256), supereminere 
(Verg.), superiacere (Paulin. Nol. 
Carm. xviii. 344), superstare (Ov.), 
superuenire (Hor.), superuolitare 
(Verg.). At Hex. v. 32 we find a 
dative supernatant fluctibus. 



15. Joh. xiii. 23, 25. The ex- 
pression is remarkable, but Ambr. 
is speaking of the orthodox Christian 
faith in general, of which John was 
the example and the teacher. 

16. Ambr. Epist. xi. 4 cum et 
alius uir saticto loctitus Spiritu dix- 
erit declinaruias huiusmodi bestias ; 
with special reference to 2 Joh. 10. 
Cp. 2 Pet. i. 21. 

1 7 f. Joh. i. I ; cp. the passages 
quoted from Ambr. in the introduc- 
tion to this hymn. In such a tourde 
force the metre naturally suffers. 

22. The Milan MSS read sed (or 
ei) laude ipse resonet ; but this, be- 
sides being unmetrical, hardly gives 
the required sense. The two Vatican 
MSS of the Ambrosian use have sed 
laude ipse se sonet, which gives a 
better sense but is still spoilt by the 
harsh hiatus. Two MSS of the Xth 
cent, read se laudet ipse soiut which 
gives the clue to the original text se 
laudet ipse, se sonet. The abrupt- 
ness of this is quite in Ambr.'s 
manner, as is the repeated se, which 
is like the repeated hoc at 2. 9 f., or 
the repeated gallus at 2. 18, 20, 21 
etc. Ambr. says in effect: 'instead 



HYMN VII . AMBROSE 



6i 



commune multis passio, 
cruorque delictum lauans ; 
hoc morte praestat martyrum 
quod fecit esse martyres. 
uinctus tamen ab inpiis 
calente oliuo dicitur 
tersisse mundi puluerem, 



25 



30 



29 uictus Aab. 

of speaking further about the won- 
ders of the faith, which we have 
learnt from John, let him speak for 
himself.' Cp. Ecclus. xxiv. i, Prov. 
xxxi. 31. Editors have generally 
adopted the transposition sed ipse 
laude, which does not seem to be 
likely. 

23. The Spirit Himself wreathes 
John, whose own writings form the 
wreath. The laurel was to a Roman 
a symbol of victory : laureatae 
litterae meant a laurel-wreathed des- 
patch to announce a victory, and in 
early times a laurel crown was held 
over the head of a triumphing 
general ; cp. Aul. Gell. v. vi. 5 
triumphales coronae . . .quae impera- 
toribus ob honorem triumphi mithm- 
tur...haec antiquittis e laurn erant. 
So Prud. Perist. XII. 6 superba 
morte laurcatum. Analecta XXVII. 
cxi. 75 laureatus sanguine. The 
abl. without a or ab is found in 
Cic. Cael. 34 alienis uiris comitata, 
and is common in poets no doubt 
for metrical convenience. Tacitus 
uses it freely, e.g. Ann. 11. 79, iii. 
20 desertns stiis. 

24. corona had to do duty for 
].wo Greek words : ffTi<f>avos, the 
wreath with which victors in the 
games were crowned ; and diddrj/xa, 
the strip of jewelled linen which 
marked royalty. In these hymns the 
athlete's crown is the one meant ; 
cp. 13. 4, 14. 3 etc. 

26. Ambr. often uses the phrase 
delictum (delicto) lauare; see de 
Joseph 59, in Luc. ii. 41, vi. 18, 
X. 89. 



30 ducitur Aabd'efgh. 

27. ' This is better than the 
martyrs' death, even that which 
caused martyrs to be,' or perhaps 
(taking quoda.?, a conjunction) 'even 
his causing martyrs to be.' John 
wrote that Gospel from which the 
martyrs derived their faith. See 
Hex. V. 16, where Ambr. makes 
Stephen the first martyr to be the 
fish that came up out of the Gospel 
sea where the hook was cast. Cp. 
Cypr. de Lapsis xx., Epist. xxxvi. 2 
(Hartel). 

morte is abl., because praestat 
{'is better') has a comparative 
force, as at de Abr. 20 ceteris prae- 
stat metallis; Epist. XXII. II prcu- 
stare maioribus. Similar are Sallust 
lug. XVI. 3 tit faina fide comi}iodum 
regis anteferret; Apul. Met. LXVii. 
4 H node ista nihil antepono. 

28. The ace. and inf. with facio 
is common in Ambr. e.g. in Ps. XL. 
35 fecisti terrain esse:, cp. 1. 23, 
Draeger 11. 393, Ronsch 366 f., 
Kaulen 236. The French faire 
carries on the construction. 

29. John was not a martyr (25- 
28) and 'yet' the will to be one was 
shewn. Tert. de Praescr. 36 is the 
earliest authority for the tradition 
that he was plunged into a cauldron 
of boiling oil before the Latin Gate 
but miraculously preserved. 

3 1 . teraisse] ' wiped off, ' ' washed 
off,' 37. 28, 40. 28, 90. 20. Ambr. 
in Ps. cxviil. ii. 8 haec igitur 
mirantibus aliis respondit anima 
lohannis : fusca sum et decora, filiae 
Jerusalem ; fusca puluere saeculari, 
quem certando conlegi, decora oleo 



62 EARLY LA TIN H YMNS 

stetisse uictor aemuH. 32 

spiritali, quo mundi huius puluerem firstly in order to make his limbs 

squaloremque deter si; de Spir. 11. supple, then to remove the dust 

it^d ungebat athletam suum Spiritus contracted in the course of the 

et pubiere impietatis excusso debdla- exercise. 

torem...offerebat; in Ps.cyMWi.im.. 32. stetisse] Cp. Eph. vi. 13. 

28 ungamus igitur oleo lectionis aemuli] according to Daniel, ihe 

tiostrae mentis lacertoSy...ut cum ad- philosopher Crato. But Ambr. is 

uersarius...puluere nos suae tetnpta- much more likely to mean Satan. 

tiotiis adsperserit, stemus intrepidi. Cp. i?iuidi 3. 14 note, zelum dra- 

An athlete was twice anointed, conis inuidi, 31. 89. 

Hymn 8 

This hymn is one of the twelve given to Ambrose by 
the Benedictine editors, on the strength of a statement 
by Cassiodorus in Ps. LXXIV. 8 uinum in diuinis scrip- 
turis significat caeleste mysterium, sicut in illis hydriis 
factum est, quas Doniinus aqua fecit impleri, ut latices 
fontium ruborein uini niutata qualitate susciperent, quern 
natura non habuit. unde beatus Ambrosius in hymno 
sanctae epiphaniae mirabiliter declamauit splendidissima 
luce uerborutn. Apart from his witness, the strong concise 
style and the frequent use of characteristic phrases point 
decidedly to Ambrose as the writer. And the question 
is settled by the intimate and necessary connexion be- 
tween the last four stanzas of the hymn and a passage 
from an undoubted writing of his. See in Luc. VI. 84 
iam illud diuinum quem ad modum quinque panes quinque 
milibus populi redundauerint ; non enim exiguo sed multi- 
plicato cibo populum liquet esse satiatum. 85 uideres in- 
conprehensibili quodatn rigatu inter diuidentium manus^ 
quas non fregerint fructificare particulas et intacta fran- 
gentium digitis sponte sua fragmenta subrepere. qui haec 
legit, quem ad modum iuges aquaruni miretur meatus et 
liquidis fontibus stupeat continuos fluere successus: quando 
etiam panis exundat et naturae solidioris rigatus exuberatf 
86 at uero hie panis quem frangit Iesus...duin diuiditur 



HYMN VI 11. AMBROSE 63 

augetitr ; . . .dmn frangitur, dum diniditiir, dum editiir sine 
ulla dispendii conprehensione ciivudatnr. 87 nee dubites 
nel quod in manibus ininistrautiiim uel in ore edentinm 
cibus crescat ; . . .sic in nuptiis ex fontibus uina ministris 
operantibus colorantur, et ipsi, qui inpleuerant hydrias 
aqua, uinum quod non detulerant hauriebant ; . . .hie eden- 
tibus populis erescunt suis fragmenta dispendiis,...illie in 
alienam speciem uertuntur elementa ; . . .quin etiam melior 
est inutati uini natura quant nati, quia in arbitrio crea- 
toris est et quos usus uelit adsignare naturis et quas na- 
turas inpertire gignendis ;.. .dum aquam minister infundit, 
odor transfusus inebriat, color mutatus informat, fidem 
quoque sapor haustus adcumulat. SS... ?iam et cibus eden- 
tium in ore crescebat. 

Here neither the prose nor the verse is a copy the 
one of the other. Both are the works of the same man 
Ambrose, and it is natural to consider the hymn to be 
the earh'er. 

Nevertheless certain modern writers refuse to allow 
this on account of the contents of the hymn. Thus it con- 
nects the visit of the magi with the Epiphany, and there- 
fore, says Daniel, it cannot have been written by Ambrose; 
inasmuch as the Roman church did not include the mani- 
festation to the Gentiles as one of the epiphanies before 
the middle of the Vth century. But Prudentius (born in 
348) dwells upon the visit of the wise men throughout 
his hymnus epipha7iiae, Cath. XII. It is also connected 
with the Epiphany by Paulinus of Nola (born in 353) ; 
see Carm. xxvii. 45 {. 

ut ueneranda dies cunctis, qua uirgine natus 
pro cunctis hominem sumpsit Deus ; atque detnde 
qua puerum stella duce mystica dona ferentes 
suppliciter uidere magi ; seu qua magis ilium 
lordanis trepidans lauit tingente lohanne ; 



64 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

sine dies eadefn magis illo sit sacra signo 
quo primum Deus egit opus, cum flumine uerso 
permutauit aquas predulcis nectare uini. 
And Dreves notes that Augustine (born in 354) in all 
his sermons on the Epiphany mentions the magi. 

Then stanzas IV and V mention among the Epiphany 
wonders the miracle at Cana. Hereupon say Kayser and 
Kraus, not before the time of Maximus of Turin (7?. c. 
A.D. 450) was this miracle connected with the Epiphany 
in the western church. But from M.'s own words it is 
clear that the connexion was already of long standing 
when he wrote {Horn. XVII. de Epiph. I, Migne LVll. 
260) uerum nee minus exsultandum est, eo quod in hac 
sacratissima die huius celebritaiis, sicut paterna traditione 
instruimur, ipse Christus Dominus noster ad terrenas in- 
uitatus nuptias aduenerat, non ut illo delectaretur conuiuio, 
non ut se uino inebriaret, sed ut nuptiarum se esse demon- 
straret auctorem. So Petrus Chrysologus (made Bishop 
of Ravenna in 433) Serin. CLVII dominicae festiuitates 
causas suas suis uocabulis eloquuntur ; nam sicut nascendo 
Christus diem dedit ftatalem,...sic lumine signorum diem 
suae illuminationis ostendit...Deus ipse apparuit trino 
modo, qui homo in partu patuit singularis. merito ergo 
sollemnitas praesens epiphaniae uocabulo nuncupatur, in qua 
inluxit deltas, quae nostra nostris obscurabatur in came, 
ista est...festiuitas, quae . . .peperit tria deitatis insignia... 
per epiphaniam Christus in nuptiis aquas sapor auit in 
uinum. So too Paulinus of Nola as quoted above. 

Then Kayser and Kraus take exception to the refer- 
ence to the feeding of the five thousand in the last three 
stanzas : this miracle being not as yet regarded as an 
epiphany. But does Ambrose so speak of it here? A 
careful reading of the words will shew that he does 
not co-ordinate it as a fourth manifestation, but that he 



HYMN VIII. AMBROSE 65 

introduces this last event with sic, as much as to say: 
These three manifestations recall yet another, which 
illustrates the third of them. And just so does Petrus 
Chrysologus allude to it {Serm. de Epiph. v, Migne LVil, 
622) aqiiavi transfert in uinum .. .qui panes quinque frag- 
vicnto profluo et furtiuo incremento ad quinque ntilia ho- 
minum tetendit et dilatauit saginam, potuit augmentis 
succrescentibus ad nuptiarum festa uini ampliare et per- 
petuate men suras. 

[But see Diet, of Christian Antiquities vol. II p. 619.] 

Aabdefghik E0 Fikls Gl Habcdfg Icdhn Max Vacprs 

Inluminans altissimus 
micantium astrorum globes, 
pax, uita, lumen, ueritas, 
lesu, faue precantibus ; 

seu mystico baptismate 5 

fluenta lordanis retro 

I. inluminans is an appropriate git. The nom. is here used for the 

word with which to begin an Epi- vocative, 'the Most High.' 

phany hymn. In Hke manner our 2. Ambr., remembering Vei^. 

I St morning lesson for this day, as Aen. VI. 725 lucentemque globum 

also in the Roman use, Isaiah Ix, lunae tttaniaque astra spiritus intus 

begins 'Arise, shine for thy light is altt, often refers to this line, as at 

come.' And Mone notes that Atha- Hex. i. 28, iv. 27, de Resur. 11. 10 

nasius explains Ps. xxvi (xxvii) caelum non semper stellarum mi- 

of the baptism of Christ, beginning cantium globis fulget; de Spir. n. 

with the words 'The Lord is my ^6 gentiles homines... quod cculum ac 

light.' In the eastern church the terras Ittnae qtioqtu stellarumque 

day was also known as rd ^wro, or micantium globos spiritus intus 

7) Tjfidpa tQ)v (jxirruv, alat suis uersibus indiderunt. 

altissimus] of Christ as is shewn 3. pax] Eph. ii. 14, Ambr. in 

by line 4 ; cp. de Fide ni. 9 quis Ps. I. 33 bibe Christum quia pax 

auiem neget Christum esse altissi- est; cp. Epist. xxix. 6, LXiil. 4. 

mum significatum?...hiTU dubitari uita... ueritas] Joh. xiv. 6, to 

Twn potest, quod altissimus Christus which verse Ambr. constantly re- 

sit...qui altissimus? Dei Filius. fers, e.g. de Abr. I. 22; .see esp. in 

ergo qui altissimus Deus Christus Ps. xxxvi. 65 cum de pace loqui- 

est. Cp. in Ps. XLV. i6f. uenite ad mur, ipse est ; cum de ueritate et 

me omnes qui laboratis. . .hanc uocem uita et redemptione loquimur, ipse est. 

dedit altissimus; in Luc. viii. 46 lumen] Cp. 3. 3. 

Christus... luminis sui globos spar- 5 f. Stanzas ll-v give the events. 

w. 5 



66 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



conuersa quondam tertio 
praesente sacraris die ; 

seu Stella partum uirginis 
caelo micans signauerit, lo 

et hoc adoratum die 
. ,v •..' . praesepe magos duxerit ; 

uel hydriis plenis aquae 
uini saporem infuderis ; 

7 quodam tempore Gl Ha. 8 praesentem...diem Ha^b^cf Icdhn Vs. 

lo signaueris Aabdefh Vap. ii hac Vap. adorandum Fs Vs. diem 

Ae Gl Habc^d Ih. 12 duxeris Aabdef Va. 13 aqua Ab Fis Gl 

Habcdg Ichn Vcs. 14 fuderis {pro inf.) Gl, fuderit E^ Fis Habcdfg 

Icdn Vs, fundere Ihi (inf. Ih2). 



in Christ's life which are especially 
regarded as His ' manifestations.' 
The classical turn seu, seu, uel, im- 
plies a choice of subjects that might 
be commemorated on this day. As 
a matter of fact it was a commemo- 
ration of them all. 

'Whether by Thy mystical bap- 
tism Thou didst on this day sanctify 
the waters of Jordan thrice turned 
back ' ; cp. the prayer in the Bap- 
tismal Service : — ' by the Baptism of 
thy well-beloved Son Jesus Christ 
in the river Jordan didst sanctify 
water to the mystical washing away 
of sin.' The reference in the hymn 
is to Ps. cxiii. (cxiv.) 3, a passage 
often quoted or referred to by 
Ambr. as at Hex. ill. 2 mare uidit 
et fugit, lordanes conuersus est 
retrorsum', cp. ib. 6, in Ps. LXI. 32. 
The three occasions were when the 
Jordan was passed by the Israelites 
under Joshua (Jos. iii), by Elijah 
(2 Kings ii. 8), by Elisha (ib. 14). 
They are here specially alluded to 
as indicating, that the Jordan was 
already prepared by miraculous in- 
terventions for this crowning en- 
richment. See Ambr. in Luc. i. 37 
ilk sub Helta diuiso amnejluuialium 
rectirsus undarum in originem Jlu- 
minis, — siait dixit scriptura: lor- 
danis conuersus est retrorsum, — 



significat salutaris lauacri futura 
mysteria. 

7. tertio] lit. 'for the third lime.' 
It is often used instead of ter by 
Ambr., in Luc. I. 36, Apolog. 
David. 43, Epist. LXii. i. Cp. 
Num. xxii. 32 cur tertio uerberas 
asiiiam tuam ; Sedul. Op. v. 36 et 
haec tertio repetit. 

8. sacraris] The line is imitated 
Sedul. Carm. Ii. 161 gurgitis et 
propriis sacrauit flumina membris. 

9. partam uirginis] 4. 30, 6. 
6. 

1 1 f. ' And on this day led the 
magi to do reverence to Thy man- 
ger.' Ambr. would not allow that 
the manger could be worshipped in 
the strict sense ; but in the sense of 
' falling down to ' or ' at ' it would 
be natural and harmless; cp. Ps. 
xcviii. (xcix.) 5 adorate scabellum 
pedum eius ; and Ambr.'s comments 
upon it de Spir. in. xi. Ambr. often 
mentions the visit of the magi. See 
esp. in Luc. 11. 43 f. 

adoratum is the supine, a form 
of the verb seldom used in late 
Latin, but cp. Ambr. Hex. V. 36 
auium qt^ae cum eunt cubitutn ; 
Epist. LXII. 3 misi diaconutn... 
memoratum. 

12. praesepe] 6. 29. magos has 
its first syllable lengthened by the 



HYMN VIII. AMBROSE 



67 



hausit minister conscius, 15 

quod ipse non impleuerat. 

aquas colorari uidens, 

inebriare flumina, 

elementa mutata stupet 

transire in usus alteros. 20 

sic quinque milibus uirum 
dum quinque panes diuidis, 
edentium sub dentibus 

15 auxit (hauxit Fs Vs) Abdfgh. 17 iubens Fi Ih, iubet Hbd. 

18 inebriari Aabdefgh E^ Fik Hbcdfg Icdn Vacps. 19 mut. elem. 

stupent Aabdefgh Fis Ih Vacps (stupent habent etiain E0 Gk Ic Vr). 
21 si Vr, hie Ac. uiris Abefgh Fs Hd' Ihn Vaps. 22 diuidit E^ Fi 

Gl (?) Habcdf Ihn Vacrs, diuidunt Abdfgh {et e ut uidetur) Vp. 



stress of the verse. In classical au- 
thors it is always short. 

13 f. Joh. ii. 6 f . tiel, 'or if,' 
answers to seu in 9, where that 
word really is equivalent to uel si. 

hydriis] by a natural license put 
for their contents. 

plems aquae] Ambr. almost al- 
ways uses a gen. with plenus, three 
times out of every four. The abl. is 
first found in Lucr., then used 
sparingly by Cic, more freely by 
Verg., and exclusively by Juv., 
Prud., Commodian. See Quint, ix. 
iii. I. In these hymns we find the 
gen. at 45. 17, 49. 23, the abl. at 
104. 34. 

15. minister] rhetorical use of 
the sing, for plu. ; cp. Ambr. in Ps. 
cxviii. xiii. 6 J tidaeiis . . .facere con- 
stieiiit ; XLVii. 11 eum niagits ado- 
rauit; 9. 8, 12. 15 and often. 

conscius] 'sharing the knowledge' 
of the fact that the wine had but 
lately been water ; Joh. ii. 9 minis- 
tri autem sciebant, qui hauriebanl 
aquam. 'The servant drew (from 
the water-pot into the cups) that 
which he knew that he had not 
filled ' : he had not poured in the 
wine that he drew out. With re- 
ference to the Gospel text a very 



natural turn is given to impleuercU 
cp. Eur. Iph. Taur. 953 0770$ fStoJ' 
laov diraai. /Sa/cx'w nirprifia irXripib- 
ffavres. 

17 f. 'The servant seeing.. .is 
amazed.' aquas, flumina, elementa 
plural in form are sing, in meaning, 
as mfluenta in 6 above. This is a 
common classical usage, cp. Drae- 
geri. 4f. 

colorari] The wines of Palestine 
were mostly red ; cp. Prov. xxiii. 
3r, Is. xxvii. 2, 31. 50, 90. 27,91. 

15- 

18. inebriare] [W. left it doubt- 
ful whether he intended to read the 
active or the passive. The passive 
was likely to come from assimilation 
to colorari, and the passage from in 
Luc. VI. 87 given in the Introd. 
seems to decide for the active.] 

19. Cp. in Ps. CXVIII. xix. 9 
elementa mutaret; de Inst. Virg. 
34 in usus alteros mutaretur; de 
My St. 52 non ualebit Chrisli sermo, 
ut species mutet elementorum ? 

21 f. quinque... quinque] in Luc. 
VI. 79 non oliosus numerus...cur 
enim plures, id est quinqtu milia, 
quinque panibus, hoc est numero 
minore, satiahantur? 

23. edentium... dentibuB] Note 

5— » 



68 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



in ore crescebat cibus. 

multiplicabatur 'magis 
dispendio panis suo. 
quis haec uidens ihirabitur 
iuges meatus fontium? 

inter manus frangentiuni 
panis rigatur profluus ; 
intacta quae non fregerant 
fragmenta subrepunt uiris. 

a6 sui Vr. 28 faucium E0 Fi Gl Hacfg Icn. 
32 supersunt Ha'^cd^. uiri Aabefgh Fis Idn Vap. 



25 



30 



31 fregerat Aef Vp. 



the play upon the sound of the 
words, an artifice used elsewhere 
also by Ambr. ; cp. in Ps. cxvili. 
xviii. 29 Moyses non imperauit sed 
impetraiiit; 10. 18 ut abluat 
mundi lue/n ; Hex. I. 35 caelum 
nubibus texitttr ut sol tegatur; vi. 
1 3 oiia congregauit et clamauit quasi 
auans; in Luc. II. 42 non fuco de- 
liciarum sed suco natiiralis ali- 
moniae ; de lacob I. \i ut tolus 
mundus eius mundaretiir sanguine. 
25. For the oxymoron cp. Sedul. 
Carm. III. 269 epulas nutriuit 
edendo \ uulgus et adtritae creue- 
runt inorsibus escae; id. Op. iv. 2 
stibstantiam . . .quae detrimentis ati- 
getur; Ovid Met. vill. 879 infelix 
minuendo corpus alebat. 

27. 'Who. ..will wonder?' i.e. no 
one will wonder. Ambr. is fond of 
making a statement by asking a 
question, cp. 10. 7, 21, in Luc. vi. 
85 quoted in the introd. to this 
hymn. The wonder of the rivers is 
dwelt upon by Basil Hex. ill. 6 
imitated by Ambr. Hex. il. 11. 

28. iuges] Cp. 1. 29 (note), 6. 32. 

meatus fontium] ' the never fail- 
ing courses of springs ' ; cp. de Fide 
II. prol. 2 fontis meatu; de Spir. i. 
prol. 7 meatusque suos fons...deri- 
uauit; ib. i. 158; in Luc. vi. 85 
quoted in the introd. to this hymn. 

29. inter manus] ' in the hands,' 
more idiomatic than /w nianibus 



ministrantium of in Luc. vi. 87 ; 
cp. Cic. in Verrem v. 11 cdius 
inter manus .. .auferebatur with de 
Sen. 12 est ui manibits laudatio 
('is being read by all'), ib, earn 
fabulam quain in manibns habebat 
(' the play which he had in hand '). 
So Ambr. de Virg. l. 7 inter cruen- 
tas carnificum manus. 

30. rigatur] connected with our 
word rain, means 'pour' any liquid, 
then in general 'shed'; cp. Lucr. 11. 
263 hinc motus per membra rigan- 
titr (' are welled ') ; iv. 907 somnus 
per membra quietem inriget ( ' lets a 
stream of repose over the limbs'); 
imitated by Verg. Aen. i. 691. Cp. 
rigatu in the passage from in Luc. 
V. given above in the introd. 

profluus is constantly found in 
Ambr.'s prose iox projluens; in Luc. 
w.dsitiefissitientibus, profluus abun- 
dantibus; cp. in Ps. xxxv. i sanguis 
. . . Christi. . .profluus ad lauandum 
omne peccatum; Epist. XLVii. i ea 
quae dictantur. . .profluo cursuferun- 
tur, 9. 23. profluens is also found, 
if rarely, as in Luc. iv. 71. 

32. uiris] i.e. the disciples. The 
final couplet refers to the portions 
which were 'over and above.' Ambr. 
seems to conceive of the process of 
multiplication as continuing in the 
hands of the disciples (frangenlium), 
and even in those of the recipients 
{quae non fregerant, sc. discipuli). 



HYMN IX. AMBROSE 69 

Hymn 9 

Biraghi and Dreves argue that the Agnes-hymn is 
Ambrose's work, because it is in his style and abounds 
with his characteristic phrases, and especially because it 
is closely connected with a passage in the treatise de 
Virginibus, which he wrote in A.D, 377 and which is 
made up from a series of sermons the first of which 
he preached on St Agnes' day, Jan. 21st, of that year. 
However it is just here that Pio Franchi de' Cavalieri 
joins issue with them {Romisch. Quartalschrift, 1901, 
p. 3 f.). For he roundly asserts that the hymn cannot 
have been written by Ambrose, inasmuch as according 
to him in three important points it contradicts this de- 
tailed prose account of the martyrdom of Agnes {de Vir- 
ghiibus I. 2). 

I. He objects that the prose story states that Agnes 
was beheaded, whereas the hymn represents her as being 
stabbed to death. No doubt the hymn does admit of 
this interpretation : see lines 25 and 30. But what says 
Ambrose in his sermon ? The important words here 
on which Franchi rests his argument are : stetit, orauit, 
ceruicem infiexit. According to him the.se last two words 
must mean * she bent her neck forward ' in order to re- 
ceive the stroke of the sword. Their real force may be 
quite different : inflexit may mean 'bent aside' in order 
to admit the point of the sword. So Catullus LXIV. 56 
euhoe bacchantes^ euhoe capita inflectentes ; Propertius IV. 
viii. TJ colla caue inflectas ad summum obliqua theatrutn ; 
Verg. Aen. III. 631 ceruicem infiexam posuit, where the 
sense is determined by Horn. Od. IX. 372 kcIt u-ko- 
Box/J-(^o-a<i •jra-)(^vv avykva. Moreover the prose account 
certainly allows the reader to regard Agnes as being 
stabbed. If she was not stabbed there is little force in 



70 EARLY LA TLN H YMNS 

fuitne in illo corpusculo uulncri locus ? or in quae noil 
habuit quoferrum reciperet. No doubt death by beheading 
was more general than by stabbing. But stabbing was 
fairly frequent ; cp. Cic. Phil. ill. 4, XIV. 25 ; Prud. 
Perist. X. 64 iugulos retectos obstinate opponere ; Fort. II. 
xiv. 10 inuitant iugulis uulnera cara suis. Jubaru Sainte 
Agnes (Paris 1907) p. 20 suggests that the stabbing in 
the case of Agnes may have been a concession to her 
tender years. After all the meaning of the phrase cer- 
uicem inflexit may be simply ' she gave herself up to 
death ' ; cp. in Ps. CXVIII. v. 25 [Chrisius'] ceruices suas 
posuit in flagella ; in Luc. VII. 178 Felix, A^abor et Victor 
. . .colla flexerunt \ Damas. Xlil. 4 militibus missis populi 
tunc colla dedere; Prud. Psych. 352. 

2. Franchi says that the prose passage knows nothing 
of Agnes' flight from her parents' house, as described in 
the third stanza of the hymn. Now this prose passage does 
not claim to give the complete and precise account of 
an exact historian, but is the recital of a preacher striving 
to stir his hearers, — hearers who already knew the whole 
story. Why then give all the details .-* And Ambrose's 
words elsewhere {Epist. XXXVII. 37 quid Theclani, quid 
Agnen...loquar, quae... ad mortem... festinauerunt?) cer- 
tainly point to incidents that are more fully narrated in 
the hymn. In much the same way, be it noted, Ambrose 
does not at Hex. v. 88 insert all the details that he gives 
in the hymn Aeterne rerum conditor {s^e the introduction 
to 2) : and yet no one doubts the fact that this hymn was 
written by Ambrose. 

3. Franchi says that the words of Agnes are different 
in the two accounts. And why not ? As a preacher before 
an especial audience on the one hand, and as a hymn 
writer for the whole church on the other, Ambrose might 
well feel himself at liberty to choose from the martyr's 



HYMN IX. AMBROSE 71 

dying words, so far as he knew them, those which would 
in either case be more directly suitable for his immediate 
purpose. 

The conclusion to which we are entitled to come by 
the evidence before us is that the two stories agree in 
substance, but with a freedom of treatment and a variety 
in detail which no imitator would venture upon, however 
bold or clever he might be. And it is noteworthy that 
the hymn knows nothing of the additions made to the 
story, as these are told in the Gesta sanctae Agnes, which 
were compiled A.D. 415-420. 

Jubaru in his elaborate history of the saint gives 
January 2 1st A.D. 305 as the probable date of the death 
of St Agnes. It took place on the decline between the 
Pantheon and the Vatican where a church dedicated to 
her now stands. 

Other accounts of her martyrdom were current. Da- 
masus, the son of a Roman notary, became the priest of 
St Laurence's church and at last Pope, from 366-384. 
He had therefore as good an opportunity as any one of 
his time of getting at the truth, and he wrote the fol- 
lowing inscription for the other church of St Agnes on 
the Nomentan Way {Epigr. XL. ed. Ihm). 

Fama refert sanctos diidum retulisse parentes 
Agnen, dum lugubres cantus tuba concrepuisset, 
nntricis gremium subito liquisse puellam^ 
sponte tnicis calcasse viinas rabiemque tyranni; 
ur£re ctan flammis uoluissei nobile corpus, 
uiribus imnensum paruis siiperasse timorem, 
nudaque profiisum crinem per membra dedisse, 
ne Domini templum fades peritura uideret. 
ueneranda mihi, sanctum decus alma pudoris, 
tit Damasi precibus faueas precor, inclyta martyr. 



72 EARLY LA TIN H YMNS 

Here the punishment is burning, and Agnes covers 
her body, not with her clothes but with her hair. See 
also Aur. Legend. SS. XXIV tunc uicarius Aspasius nomine 
iussit earn in copiosum ignem iactari, sed in duas partes 
flamtna diuisa...eam minime contingebat . . .ignibus iniecta^ 
sed iis per orationem eius exstinctis gladio percussa est. 

In the story told by Prud. Perist. XIV Agnes is thrust 
into a brothel (25), and speaks of being stabbed {77 fer- 
rum in papillas omne recepero \ pectiisque ad imuni uint 
gladii traham\ but she is eventually beheaded (89 uno 
sub ictu nam caput amputat). 

Notice that the epigram of Damasus begins with the 
-words fama refert, just as Ambrose de Virginib. I. 7 uses 
the word traditur. Already in the fourth century there 
was known to be uncertainty as to the facts concerning 
the martyrdom of this little girl. 

Aabdefghik Fis la Vacps 

Agnes beatae uirginis 
natalis est, quo spiritum 
caelo refudit debitum 
pic sacrata sanguine. 

^ Agnis Vap^, Agnetis Fs. 

I. Ambr. and Prud. Perist. xiv. ea loqtii possumus, cuius ne nomen 

1 , 31 etc. and the writer of the quidem uacuum luce lattdisfuit ? 

epigram c. 364 Damasus LXXXiv. 4, -2. natalis] 'birthday,' i.e. day of 

14 (ed. Ihm), make Agnes both martyrdom; cp. Ambr. ^^ /V</. A'^j-. 

nom. and gen., the abl. being Agne II. 5 nos quoque ipsi natales dies 

(Ambr. de Off. i. 203). Another (here used in the natural sense) de- 

gen. Agftetis is found as early as in jfunclorum obliuiscimur et eum quo 

the Feriale ecclesiae Romanae of obierunt diem celebri sollemtiitate 

A.D. 354, and this at last superseded renouamus. According to Servius 

the shorter form. Mone suggests on Verg. ^r/. in. 76 the best writers 

that Ambr. chose the Greek gen. used natalis as a subst., whereas 

(kfvrii) to avoid confusion with the later writers from Juv. onwards said 

Latin agna. Anyhow we may safely ttatalis dies. But Cic. uses natalis 

say that he was thinking of this dies and Ambr. natalis; cp. de 

meaning for the name in view of his Virg. l. 5 natalis est uirginis,... 

y/oiis de Vi7g. I. i, quid dignum de natalis est mar tyris,... natalis est 



HYMN IX. AMBROSE 



73 



matura martyrio fuit, 
matura nondum nuptiis. 
nutabat in uiris fides, 
cedebat effessus senex. 

metu parentes territi 
claustrum pudoris auxerant: 
soluit fores custodiae 
fides teneri nescia. 

8 et fessus Ae Fi Vacp. cedebant effessi senes Fs Vs. 



sanctae Agnes. See also Ronsch 
104. 

3. refudit] 2. 22 (note), caelo is 
to be taken with debilum. 

4. sacrata] perhaps implies that 
her martyrdom was to Agnes what 
the taking of their vows was to 
other 'virgins.' She does not appear 
to have been a ' professed ' virgin ; 
cp. de Virg. I. 19 haec probauit 
Dominum, quern quia aetas tton- 
ditm poterat conjileri, natura con- 

fessa est. Her own blood was the 
instrument of her consecration, as 
others were baptized in their own 
blood. 

5. Cp. de Virg. i. 8 nondum 
idonca poenae et iam matura me- 
moriae; Priid. Perist. xiv. 10 iugali 
uix habilem toro. She is said to have 
been only twelve years old. The 
phrase in the hymn comes from 
Verg. Aen. vii. 53 iam matuia 
uiro, iam plenis nubilis annis ; cp. 
fDamasus] Lxxix. 4 (of a boy 
martyr) tempore sub paruo matura 
laude triumphans. 

7. nutabat is contrasted with 
Agnes' firm constancy, as often in 
Ambr. ; cp. in Ps. xl. 22 latro... 
confessus est Dei Filium,...iusti 
plerique nutabant. 

Both uiris and senex are em- 
phatic. The faith of men in all 
their strength was wavering around, 
elders with their wisdom were giving 
in, but this little girl stood firm. 
Similarly de Inst. Virg. 49 stabat 
ante crucem mater et fugientibus 



uiris stabat intrepida; in Luc. X. 
132. 

8. effessus] ' worn out ' by perse- 
cution. The word, being well at- 
tested by the MSS and duly formed, 
should be read in preference to the 
et fessus of editors. Similar forms 
are edurus, efferus. 

senex] the rhetorical singular, 
like minister in 8. 15. 

gf. Prud. Perist. III. 36 f. gives 
the like precautions taken by the 
parents of Eulalia : sed pia cura 
parentis agit, \ uirgo animosa domi 
ut lateatt \ ...ne fera sanguinis in 
pretium \ mortis amore puella ruat. 

10. 'had doubled the safeguard 
of her purity,' viz. the lock and key 
and similar precautions taken to 
secure the sanctity of her maiden- 
hood. Perhaps Ambr. has in his 
mind the language of Hor. Od. lit. 
xvi. Cp. Epist. V. 9 erit, im/uam, 
uel maleuola uel imperita, quam 
pudoris claustra praetereant. Con- 
trast 6 14. 

11. Like Eulalia (Prud. Perist. 
III. 43) Agnes evaded her parents' 
restraint and voluntarily offered 
herself for martyrdom. See the in- 
troduction to this hymn. 

fores custodiae] 'the doors of 
guard,' i.e. the doors which guarded 
her — a somewhat Hebraic turn. 

12. fides] de Virg. i. 7 magna 
uis fidci, quae etiam ab ilia testi- 
monium inuenit aetate! 

For the use of nescia cp. that of 
nescire at 3. 20, 28, 8. 19. Ambr. 



74 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



prodire quis nuptum putet,- 
sic laeta uultu ducitur, — 
nouas uiro ferens opes, 
dotata censu sanguinis. 

aras nefandi numinis 
adolere taedis cogitur : 
respondet ' baud tales faces 
sumpsere Christi uirgines : 



15 



20 



15 uero Aade la Vap, uiros Fs Vs. 
authalis facit la. 

has an inf. with nescius, as here, de 
Virg. I. 7 mon...nescia\ ib. 11. 9 
prodire domo nescia; ib. il. I'ifu- 
gere nescia ; cp. Verg. Georg. n. 
467, IV. 470, Aen. X. 502, xii. 
527; Draeger 11. 354. Ennodius 
Hymn. vni. 6 imitates the line : 
uirtus teneri nescia, 

13. 'One would think she was 
coming forth to be wedded.' Cp. 
de Virg. I. 8 non sic ad thalamum 
nupta properaret, ut ad supplicii 
locum laeta successu, gradu festino 
iiirgo processit; ib. iii. ■3^^\^Pelagia'\ 

fertur ornasse caput, miplialem in- 
duisse uestem, ut non ad mortem 
ire diceres, sed ad sponsum. For 
the form of the line cp. 13. 29, and 
for the supine nuptum 8. 1 1. 

1 4. sic] This use of sic ( = tarn, 
adeo) is rare ; but the dictionaries 
refer to Cic. Rep. 11. 21 sic er at in 
omni uel officio uel sermone sollers. 

ducitur] ' She is led off to exe- 
cution ' ; cp. 1. 33, Ambr. de 
Nabuth 11, de Virg. 11 1. 34. 

15. 'Bringing to her husband 
riches of a new kind, being dowered 
with the wealth of her blood.' 
nottas as in 6. 30, 10. 24. uiro = 
Christ. Cp. de Virg. i. 22 Chris- 
tus uirginis sponsus. So Fortunatus 
IV. xxvi. 97 hinc mater, hinc sponsa 
Agnes, Tecla dulcis, Agathe \ et quae- 
cumque Deo uirginitate placet. 

16. dotata] Cp. Ambr. Hex. iii. 
56 ecrlesia . . . Christi cruore dotata ; 



19 aut Adefh Fs Vacp. 



de Isaac 48 latcdant etiam munera 
animae, quae missa sunt a sponso, 
quibus dotata ueniebaf, Epist. 
XXXI. 7 misericordiae... dotata pa- 
trimonio. 

censu] originally 'rating,' then 
' that at which one was rated,' 
hence 'income,' 'property, "wealth.' 
Ambr. uses the word metaphorically, 
de lacob 11. 20 censu jidei; Epist. 
XXXI. 1 censu piodmes; ib. xxxviil. 
7 bonitatis suae censum ; cp. ib. 
II. II. 

1 7. ' They would compel her to 
kindle with the torch the altar of 
an accursed god ' : according to 
Prud. Perist. xiv, that of Minerva. 
Ambr. is borrowing from Verg. Aen. 
vil. 71 ado let dum alt aria taedis:, 
as he does de Joseph 17 thymiama, 
quo adolent altaria piae mentis; in 
Luc. I. 28 adolentibus altaria ; de 
Off. III. 100 ignis quo adolerent 
altaria. Cp. Prud. Perist. iii. 26 f. 
ast ubi se furiata lues \ excitat in 
f amnios Domini \ Christicolasque 
cruenta iubet \ tura cretiiare, iecur 
pecudis I mortiferis adolere dels. 

The plural forms aras and taedis 
are poetical. Verg. uses of a single 
altar the plural arae more than 60 
times, the sing, some 18 times; the 
plural taedae 12 times, the sing. 
taeda twice. And aras is here 
chosen for altaria (which is vir- 
tually always used in the plural, 
but cf. Konsch 259, 265) to suit the 



HYMN IX. AMBROSE 



75 



hie ignis exstinguit fidem, 
haec flamma lumen eripit. 
hie, hie ferite ! ut profluo 
eruore restinguam foeos.' 

24 extinguam Ad, restringam Ah Fs Vs. 



metre. Steier, p. 628, says that 
Ambr. always carefully distinguishes 
between ara a heathen and altaria 
a Christian altar. It is true that at 
in Virg. I. 7 Ambr. says, as here, 
uel si ad aras inuita rapereiur, and 
in Luc. IX. 20 ara deiciltir, ut al- 
taria eriganlur. Cp. Cyp. Ep. 59. 18 
altare reniouentibtis... simulacra atq. 
iiiola cum arts suis transeant; ib. 
65. I quasi post aras diaboli accedere 
ad a/tare Dei fas sit. But he often 
uses ara as the altar of God ; thus 
de Abr. I. 6 ubi Bethel, id est damns 
Dei, ibi et ara: ubi ara, ibi et 
inuocatio Dei nostri; Epist. XVIII. 
10 numquid impcrator gentilis aram 
Christo leuauit (cp. just above sed 
uetera inquit [Symmachus] red- 
denda sunt altaria simulacris) ; ib. 
XIX. 23 nee aram statuit Deo nee 
hostiam immolauit ; ib. LV. i tecum 
is qui aedificauit aram Deo. Nor do 
others make a sharp and constant 
distinction between the two words ; 
cp. Pnid. Cath. xii. 131 and often, 
[Damas.] LViii. \ hanc aram Domini 
seruant; Fort. v. v. 133, vil. xxv. 
8; Vit. Mart. in. 54. For the 
difference between them Obbar., on 
Prud. Cath. vii. 203 altaris aram 
(cp. Perist. X. 49), refers to Isid. 
Orig. XV. 4, Serv. ad Verg. Aen. 
II. 515 superorum et arae sunt et 
altaria, infer orum tantum arae. 
Dressel says ara sanctior augus- 
tiorque altaris pars Prudentio esse 
uidetur. 

18. adolere was the technical 
term in Roman ritual for kindling 
the sacrificial fire on an altar ; but 
it is hard to say haw it came to 
have this meaning — the later Ro- 
mans themselves seem not to have 
known. 



19. faces] Agnes is referring to 
the use of torches at weddings. 
Propertius uses taedae for ' marriage ' 
I. viii. 21 nam me non ullae poterunt 
corrumpere taedae. 

20. sumpsere] 'are wont to 
take,' the perfect of repeated ac- 
tion, rare in principal clauses, ex- 
cept in poets and later writers 
(Roby § £478 f.); cp. Verg. Georg. 
IV. 213, Hor. Epist. i. ii. ^1, Ars 
Poetk 343, 1. 4 legimus. 

21 f. Agnes means that the hea- 
then fire is not true fire, the heathen 
flame not true flame. 

Mc.haec] rhetorical repetition, 
cp. note on 2. 11. 

exstinguit... restinguam] For the 
oxymoron in ignis exstinguit cp. 
Sedul. Carm. I. 705 flammis | ar- 
dentis fdei restincta est flamma (an 
echo of our passage). See also de 
Virg. I. 30 quam nulla exstinguit 
aetas, nulla eripere mors potest. 

23. [Hie, hlc may indicate the 
part of the body that she wished 
them to strike, or the altar in the 
law-court at which she stood.] 
With the general sense cp. Agnes' 
words de Virg. I. 9 quid percus- 
sor moraris? For profluo cp. 8. 
30. 

24. de Virg. ill. 33 [Pelagia is 
speaking] sacrilegas aras praecipi- 
tata subuertam et accensos focos 
eruore restinguam ; in Luc. ix. 33 
incendia propria eruore restinxerit. 

focos is 'the altar fire' as at Pro- 
pert. V. xi. 54, Prud. Symm. 11. 
910, 971, Perist. II. 447, X. 263. 
Cp. Isid. Orig. xx. x. 1 Varro 

focos ait dictos, quod foueant ignes ; 
...quidquid autem igtiis fouet, focus 
uocatur, sen ara sit seu quid 
aliud. 



76 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



percussa quam pompam tulit! 
nam ueste se totam tegens 
curam pudoris praestitit, 
ne quis retectam cerneret. 

in morte uiuebat pudor, 
uultumque texerat manu, 
terram genu flexo petit 
lapsu uerecundo cadens. 

26 tegit Abdefgh la Vap. 



25 



30 



25. 'When smitten what gran- 
deur she displayed ! ' pompa seems 
to have lost its sense oi 3^ procession, 
as the Greek tto/jltt-^ sometimes did, 
and as our word 'pomp' has done. 
In a similar prose passage (de Virg. 
11. 17 quae pompa ilia, quanta 
angelorum laetitia platidentiuni) the 
pompa may refer to the marriage 
procession, or possibly to the funeral 
procession ; cp. Propert. III. v. 3 
nee mea tunc longa spatietur ima- 
gine pompa. 

tulit] Cp. Cic. Atl. XIV. xiii. 2 
laetitiam apertissime tulimus. 

26. According to Damasus XL. 
7, quoted in the introduction to this 
hymn, Agiies covered her naked 
body with her hair, even as Godiva 
'shower'd the rippled ringlets to 
her knee.' So in a hymn in honour 
of St Agnes quoted by Mone ill. 
179 we read spoliata uestimentis \ 
densis latet capillis ; and in another 
hymn (ib. 181) gaude, quod cum 
nudabaris \ crine magis tenebaris \ 
quam amictus gloria. 

27 f. Ambr. has in mind the 
death of Polyxena as Euripides 
depicts it, Hec. 568 f. t\ Si Kal Ovr)- 
ffKovff Sfius I ttoWtjv irpbvoiav elxef 
eiiffxri/ius ireaeiv, \ KpvvTOvc a. Kp{nr- 
T€iv 6nfjLaT apaiywv xp^^^i imitated 
by Ovid Fast. II. 833 turn quoque 
iam moriens ne non procumbat 
honeste \ respicit; haec etiam cura 
cadentis erat ; Met. xill. 479 tunc 
quoque cura fuit partes celare tegen- 
das I cum caderet castique decus ser- 



uare pudoris. So did the sisters of 
Pelagia, Ambr. de Virg. in. 35, 
suspenso paululum in cinctum sinu, 
quo pudorem tegerent; and Pelagia 
herself, Epist. xxxvii. 38 quid 
autem sublimius sancta Pelagia, 
quae...aiebat: uoletts morior, nemo 
me continget manu, tumo oculo pro- 
tei-uo uiolabit uirginem ; tnecum 
feram pudorem, mecum incolumem 
uerecutuiiam. So did Perpetua, 
Potamiaena, and other Christian 
martyrs. Cp. Tac. Hist, III. 84 ej, 
cura etiam morientibus decori exitus 
fuit; VVm. Epist. iv. 11. 

27. praestitit] See note on 4. 7. 

29. morte uiuebat] an oxymoron. 
Steier quotes Florus 1. iS et in ipsa 
morte ira uiuebat. Cp. Marius 
Victor Aleih. ill. 224 uiua morte 
suos referat. 

30. ' even her face she had 
covered.' This emphatic use of -que 
is found in Catullus and Propertius, 
and is common with later writers in 
the phr. hodieque {in Luc. l. 38); 
Schmalz 496. For the sense of the 
line cp. de Abr. i. 93 discite ergo 
uirgines quemadmodum seruetis ue- 
recundiam nee intecto capite pro- 
deatis ante extraneos; i Cor. xi. 6f. 

31. Cp. Lucr. I. 92 [The dying 
Iphianassa] terram genibus sitm- 
missa petebat ; Verg. Aen. iii. 93 
submissi petivius terram. 

petit] =/e/zVV ; both uiuebat and 
texerat being in past time. Vergil, 
Ovid and Lucan use this shortened 
form. 



HYMN X. AMBROSE 77 

Hymn 10 

The great antiquity of this hymn is proved by the 
mention of it in the Rule of Caesarius ad uirgines, 
whose direction- is qiiein hymmim to turn pascha et ad 
matiitinos et ad uesperam psallere debetis. The Rule of 
Aurelian is to the same effect, except that for ad uesperam 
he writes ad lucernariuni. As to its being one of Am- 
brose's genuine hymns, it is quoted as his by Hincmar 
of Reims, but his date is too late to allow him to be a 
competent witness on this point. Firmer grounds of 
belief are its conciseness and strength, its quotation of 
scripture passages slightly modified, its close resem- 
blance in vocabulary and idiom to Ambrose's prose. 

Dreves would add a further proof of its antiquity in 
the form of expression of the first words, hie est dies 
uerus Dei. He urges that not until after Jerome's re- 
vision did Ps. cxvii. (cxviii.) 24, to which these words 
refer, run haec est dies, and that the hymn must therefore 
have been written before that revision. However ac- 
cording to Sabatier {Vet. Ital. II. 230) the older version 
also read haec, so that we cannot use this argument. But 
it does seem to be the case that Ambrose when quoting 
or referring to the psalm-verse makes dies masculine, 
as at Epist. XX III. 11 die autem dominica exsultandum 
prop he ta docet, dicens: hie est dies quern fecit Domimis. 

In other places also Ambrose brings this verse into 
direct reference to Easter. Thus in Ps. XLIII. 6 docet nos 
scriptura esse aliquos praeclaros dies in quibus refulserint 
facta diuina. . .in ipso enim die Christiis hominibus resur- 
rexit, et ideo specialiter de ipso dictum est: hie est dies 
quern fecit Dominus. . .cum igitur omnes dies Deus fecerit, 
hinc tamen diei prae ceteris diuini operis praerogatiua 
delata, quo peccatum omne sub la turn est... hie ergo dies 



78 EARLY LA TLN H YMNS 

quern inluminaiiit sol ille iiistitiae. In Luc. VII 79 quis 
est ille alter dies nisi forte ille dominicae resurrectionist de 
quo dictum est: hie est dies quem fecit Dominus. 

The sense of Easter must not be unduly restricted. 
The present hymn is as much on the Passion as on the 
Resurrection. In early times the Passion, the Death, 
and the Resurrection of Christ were regarded as one 
great celebration; cp. de Resur. II 46 mors eius annua 
sollemnitas mundi est; and see Feltoe's note on Dionysius 
Alex. p. 94. 

Easter was the chief season for Baptism, and the 
thought of this underlies the hymn, especially the first 
two stanzas, as also the conclusion of 36, the whole of 
37, and the first part of 109 and no. 

Aabcdeghik Eo Fis^ Haci Icefn Mx Vacprs 

Hie est dies uerus Dei 
sancto serenus lumine, 
quo diluit sanguis sacer 
probrosa mundi crimina ; 

fidem refundens perditis 5 

caecosque uisu inluminans. 

2 sanctus sereno Vr, sanctus serenus Eo F"^. 3 quod Vrs. 5 per- 
fidis Haci (perfides Vr). 6 uisus Vap. 

1. Ps. cxvii. (cxviii.) 24; see est enim aqua sine criice Christi? 
introduction. eletnentum commune sine ullo sacra- 

2 . sancto . . . lumine] that of Christ, tnenii effectu. 

cp. 3. 3, 8. 3. 4. Ambr. Carm. i. 9 [Biraghi 

serenus] 'bright,' from the same p. 136] hie (i.e. in the font) qui- 

root as sol, sirius. cuvique uolunt probrosae crimina 

3. de Bened. Patr. 24 in passione uitae \ poiure, cor da laiient, pec tor a 
. . .diltiit gentes suo sanguine ; in Ps. mu7ida gerant. 

XXXIX. 17 ut in sanguine suo cm- mundi] probably with reference 

niumpeccatadilueret; inPs.Cxwil. to Joh. i. 29. 

prol. 3 passio Domini... quae mun- 5. perditis] 'to the lost.' per- 

dum hunc diluit. ditus is the only passive part of 

For the consecration of the bap- perdere found in good writers, with 

tismal water by the passion of the one exception oi perditur, Hor. 

Christ cp. Ambr. de Myst. 20 quid Sat. 11. vi. 59, some part of perire 



HYMN X. AMBROSE 



79 



quern non graui soluit metu 
latronis absolutio ? 

qui praemium mutans cruce 

lesum breui adquisit fide lo 

7 soluat Eo Fi^ Haci Icefn Vcs, soluet Vr. 9 praemio Eo Vr. 

crucem Eo Ic Vr. 10 lesu le Vs. adquisiuit F^ Hci Vr, quaesiuit 

Aabdgh Eo Ha Vap, querit Fi Icefn Vacps. 



taking the place. The variant per- 
Jidis makes a pointed contrast with 
fi-deni (as does caecos with inlutni- 
nans), but this very fact may have 
commended it as a correction to 
some copyists. For refundens cp. 
2. 22 note. 

6. The enlightenment is partly, 
but not wholly, that of Baptism. 

7 f. Lk. xxiii. 39 f. The penitent 
robber is often alluded to in Ambr.'s 
prose; as in Ps. xxxix. 17 latro 
critcifixus absoluitur, quia ilk 
Christum in suppliciis agnouit suis, 
...et peccatum suum confesius est 
Christo ; . . .quia in cruce sua regnum 
Domini mente conspexit....Ideo pre- 
cationem latronis uox secuta est cae- 
lestis huiusmodi: amen, amen, dico 

tibi, hodie mecum eris in paradiso 

nemo est qui possit excludi quando 
receptus est latro. See the like pas- 
sages de Fide iii. 99, in Luc. x. 121, 
Epist. LXXi. 8. 

In such questions as this the in- 
dicative may stand, as in 21,8. 27 
(see the note there) ; or the sub- 
junctive, as at 12. 13. Mone reads 
soluet, to match mirabitur 8. 27, 
but here the present is better at- 
tested and gives at least as good a 
sense. 

9 f. 'Who changing his cross into 
his heaven gained Jesus by a moment 
of faith.' The variants in 9 are ac- 
counted for by the two constructions 
oi tnutare. Horace could say Od. i. 
xvi. 25 mitibus \ mtitare quaero 
tristia ('give up bitter for sweet'), 
and ib. xvii. i uelox amoenum saepe 
Lucretilem \ mutat Lycaeo Faunus 



('takes in exchange for'). Ambr. 
uses the former construction in Ps. 
XL. 22 IcUro ipse nequitiam suam 
proposito meliore mutauit ; Epist. 
1.\1. 3 patriam peregrino mutabant 
solo; in Luc. vii. i arduuvi quippe 
est crucem tollere...raroque quamuis 
excelsa uirtus futuris conmutat prae- 
sentia. 

praemium] Cp. in Ps. xxxvil. 
18 dicamus quern ad modum in re- 
munerando \^Dominus'\ praeueniat 
nostram precationem et doceamus 
exemplo....tardius uotum precantis 
[latronis] qtiam remiinerantis est 
praanium; de Fide v. 125 vierita 
latronis extdt, praemia innocentis 
emeruit. 

10. breui... fide] Cp. in Luc. x. 
121 pulcherrintum adfectandcu con- 
uersionis exemplum, quod tarn cito 
latroni uenia relaxatur. The phrase 
also occurs in Luc. vi. 58 Dei 
munus est congregatio nationum, 
quae etiam breui Jide miser icordiam 
inclinat aeternam : cp. Epist. XVI. 
4 Jacob... breui somno...impetrauit, 
quod magno labore postea adquisiuit 
hereditas eins. Ambr. uses breitis in 
a like pregnant sense in Luc. iv. 54 
aeterno siipplicio et breui frtictu. Cp. 
Horace's breues Jlores Od. Ii. iii. 13, 
breuem dominum (' their short lived 
lord ') II. xiv. 24. 

adquisit] = atf'^?/m«//. A copyist 
who found quaerit or quaesit would 
not be likely to change it into 
the longer word, which would be 
awkward in the singing at a time 
when elision was no longer in 
use. 



8o 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



iustosque praeuio gradu 
praeuenit in regno Dei. 

opus stupent et angeli 

poenam uidentes corporis 

Christoque adhaerentem reum 15 

uitam beatam carpere. 

mysterium mirabile ! 
ut abluat mundi luem, 

II iustus Abeg'h^ Eo F^ Ha^c Vapr. 12 peruenit Aab'd'g Fi Ic 

Vap. 13 obstupent {pro opus s.) Eo F^ Hac, obstupeant Ic, hoc 

obstupent Hi. 15 Chnstumq....reo Eo F^. 



1 1 . iustos . . praeuenit] ' preceded 
the righteous'; the iusti of Lk. xv. 
7 are meant. There is a further 
reference to Mt. xxi. 31 praecedent 
uos in regnum Dei, a passage quoted 
by Ambr. in Ps. xxxv. 23. He 
uses praeuenire transitively de Abr. 
I. 33, in Ps. XXXVII. 18, as it is 
used also in the Latin of i Thess. 
iv. 14. praeuius is used by Ambr. 
Hex. IV. 27, in Luc. vii. 122, de 
Off.l. Ill, Epist.-LXIU.^T, LXXVIII. 
8. The variant iustus would mean 
'justified' 'made just' and is used 
thus of the robber de Nab. 38 auaro 
nox semper est, dies iusto. But early 
MSS are most untrustworthy on this 
point, Vat. reg. 11 in this same 
hymn writing corpuris at 14. The 
reading in regnum of most MSS may 
be right, but more probably comes 
from Lk. xxiii. 42. 

12. For the pleonasm praeuio... 
praeuenit cp. Ambr. in Luc. vil. 96 
ante praecessit. 

13. Ambr. often alludes thus to 
the angels ; d^ Fide IV. 5 obstupue- 
runt et angeli caeleste mysterium... 
cum resurgeret Dominus . . .praeibant 
angeli mirantes spolium ex hoste 
quaesiium ; ib. 26grande mysterium 
Christi, quod stupuerunt et angeli ; 
13. 30. Perhaps there is in these 
passages a recollection of i Pet. i. 
12, which Ambr. quotes with the 
.same et in Epist. L?^.>iJX. 3. 



14. poenam... corporis] 'the bo- 
dily sufferings ' might be those of 
the robber, but the passage de Incarn. 
39 erat inter supplicia...et regnum 
caeleste donabat makes it probable 
that Ambr. means the sufferings of 
Christ amidst which He was able to 
do such miracles of grace. 

15. Christo adhaerentem is a 
biblical phrase, cp. Ueut. iv. 4, 
Jos. xxiii. 8, Ps. Ixxii. (Ixxiii.) 28 
etc. Ambr. repeatedly uses it, as in 
Ps. cxviii. i. 5, ii. 9, xi. 5 ; cp. de 
Cain I. 5 Christianus adhaerens 
Deo. 

1 6. in Luc. X. 121 uita enim est 
esse cum Christo ; idea ubi Christus, 
ibi uita, ibi regnum. That passage 
(concerning the dying robber) and 
the present tense here used shew 
that carpere means ' was then en- 
joying ' and does not directly refer 
to the life after death. This obser- 
vation favours the reading regno in 
12. Ambr. often has the phrase 
uitam carpere ; de Lnterp. lob in. 
19, in Ps. CXVIII. iii. 17, in Luc. 
VII. 39 ; cp. in Ps. XXXVI. 20, in 
Ps. XLVII. 23. 

17. 'O wondrous mystery that 
flesh should....' For the construc- 
tion cp. de Exc. Fratris 4 magnum 
pietatis Jiiysterium ut mors corporis 
nee in Christo esset excepta. 

18. For the intentional assonance 
oi abluat... luem cp. 8. 23. 



HYMN X. AMBROSE 



peccata tollat omnium 
carnis uitia mundans caro ! 

quid hoc potest sublimius, 
ut culpa quaerat gratiam 
metumque soluat caritas 
reddatque mors uitam nouam, 

hamum sibi mors deuoret 
suisque se nodis liget, 
moriatur ut uita omnium, 



25 



20 mundet Fi Icefn. ^^ culpam... gratia F^ Va. 17, 28 ut inserui. 



19. Joh. i. 29, cp. 4. 31. 

20. The use of * the flesh ' per- 
sonified is common in the N.T., 
especially in St Paul's epistles, e.g. 
Rom. iii. 20; cp. de Ituarn. 56 
nam quae erat causa incarnationis, 
nisi ut caro quae peccauerat per se 
redimeretur? This is imitated 113. 

15- 

mundans] Cp. de Jacob i. 17 ut 
totus miindus eius mundaretur san- 
guine ; de Betted. Fair. 24 twstra 
delicta mundauit. 

caro] Cp. de Bened. Patr. 24 
bona stola est caro Christi, quae 
omnium peccata operuit . . .lauit ergo 
lesus stolam stiam . . .ut . . .nostram 
sordem ablueret. 

2 1 f. ' What can be grander than 
this, that guilt should win grace ? ' 

potest] sc. esse, meaning almost 
'is possible'; Ambr. Hex. v. 19 
potest et sic, as at Ter. Pkorm. 303 
7ion sic futttrumst : non potest. 
Lofstedt Spdtlat. Studien 44 quotes 
Tertull. adv. Marcion. i. 25 noti 
poterit ea bonitas sine suis dotibus. 

ut] as in 18. It explains the hoc. 

22. quaerat] 'win,' as in Luc. 
V. 76 ita erit ut et iniuriam repelled 
et gratiam quaeras ; de Fide IV. 5 
spolium ex hoste qucusitum. The 
word looks back to adquisit in 10, 
as soluat in 23 to soluit in 7. 

For the question cp. 8. 27 note. 

24. mors ultam thus standing 
together form an oxymoron. The 



pointed contrast of life and death is 
common in hymns of all ages. But 
we may compare the well-known 
Easter sequence, Daniel II. 95 mors 
et uita duello confiixere mirando : 
dux uitae mortuus regnat uiuus; 
and 34. 3 r f. 

nouam] as in 6. 30. 

25 f. ' that death should swallow 
his own hook and tie himself in his 
own knots.' The subjunctives still 
depend upon ut in 22. 

hamum] Cp. Amphilochius (Holl 
p. 98) oOt (iK Ko.'^ij) Tip a.yKl<rTp<f> ttjs 
debrrirbs fiov wffWfp <rKti)\r]Ka irepi- 
Oels rb (TQfjM...i\KU> tov davarov, 32. 
10 ; and for the general sense of the 
passage Hos. xiii. 14, i Cor. xv. 54, 
Ambr. Epist. XLIV. 7 in nouo testa- 
mento suauis morsus est uitae, quae 
mortem absorbuit. propterea aposto- 
lus ait: deuorataest mors in uictoria 
sua. Ambr. uses the phrase hamum 
uorare, de VirginitcUe 119. 

27 f. 'for the life of all to die 
that it may rise again the life of all': 
the splendid climax and conclusion 
of all the dependent clauses which 
have preceded. Cp. in Fs. xxxvi. 
36 ipsius mors uita est...ipsius re- 
surrectio uita est uniuersorum ; in 
Ltu. X. 126 caro moritur ut re- 
surgat; de Fid. Resur. 11. 46 mors 
eius uita est omnium. Ambr. would 
never have written such a line as 
moriatur uita omnium, which brings 
a spondee into the 2nd foot and 

6 



82 EARLY LA TIN- H YMNS 

resurgat ut uita omnium ; 

cum mors per omnes transeat, 

omnes resurgant mortui, 30 

consumpta mors ictu suo 

perisse se solam gemat ? 

38 hominum Acdhi^ Fi lefn Vc. 29 dum Hci. 30 resurgunt Fii/' 
Hac len Vc. 32 sola Aabdehi Ifn Vcs. 

leaves a final unaccented d unelided omnium. Et would do almost as 

before 0. See Munro's note Public well. 

School Latin Grammar p. 523 : 28. The ut, this time found in 

' Virgil's two examples of such a the oldest of our MSS, is necessary, 

hiatus with a short syllable, addam or here again we should have a 

cerea prund- honos anA patuit dea' spondee in the 2nd foot and the 

ilk, may be defended by the pause ; open d. The meaning of the ut, 

...the. mali ominatis assigned by however, is different. 

some to Hor., and the male, 29. Rom. v. 12. Ambr. in Luc. 

miselle passer given by others to iv, 67 quotes the verse thus : et 

CatuU. are impossible.' There would ita in omnes homines pertransivit 

be every temptation for a copyist to {mors). 

omit the ut after its omission in 31. Cp. 25, Ambr. </<? /^^'^ III. 84 

the preceding lines, more especially mortis enim viorsfcuta est susceptio 

before ui (VTVIT). Therefore I mortis in Christo. 

insert ut and read moriatur ut uita 

Hymn ii 

Except for the important fact that this hymn is 
contained in the Ambrosian MSS the evidence for the 
authorship of Ambrose is merely internal. But this 
evidence is convincing. 

It was written by a poet of Milan, where these 
martyrs were especially honoured; see line 4 terrisqtte 
nostris aduenae\ Ambr. in Luc. VII. 178 granunt sinapis 
martyres nostri sunt Felix, Nabor et Victor; habebant 
odorem fidei sed latebant ; uenit persecutio, arma posueriint, 
colla flexerunt, contriti gladio per totius terminos mundi 
gratiani sui sparsere martyrii. Paulin. Vit. Ambr. 14 
sancti martyres Nabor et Felix celeberrime frequenta- 
bantur. The omission of any mention of Victor by 
Paulinus is due to the fact that, whereas Nabor and 
Felix were buried side by side (cp. Ambr. Epist. XXII. 2 



HYMN XL AMBROSE 83 

eo loci, qui est a7ite cancellos sanctorum Felicis et Naboris\ 
Victor was buried elsewhere, namely in the basilica of 
Fausta, where Ambrose also laid the remains of his 
brother Satyrus; see the epitaph, probably written by 
Ambrose himself: Uranio Satyro supremum fecit hono- 
rem, \ martyris ad laeiiam detiilit Ambrosius; and the 
Panegyric of Satyrus, ascribed by Biraghi to the Vlth 
century [Ambrosius Satyri corpus^ lacrimariim riimlis 
irroratum ad laeuain martyris Victoris propriis manibus 
sepeliuit. 

The thoughts of the hymn and the words in which 
they are expressed constantly recur in Ambrose's un- 
doubted prose works. 

The negative witness of Ennodius is of great weight. 
He expressly says that he owed his recovery from a 
dangerous illness to Victor, to whom he purposes to pay 
special honour {ingeiiioli sui adipem litare). Yet he 
wrote no hymn for his festival, evidently because his 
master Ambrose had already composed one. 

The wording of stanza V shews that the three martyrs 
had served in the imperial army at Milan. According 
to the martyrologies, they were martyred at Lodi on 
May 8th, A.D, 304, or according to the Hieronymian 
martyrology, Victor on the 8th and the others on the 
1 2th, and their bodies were carried back to Milan on 
May 14th. Nothing more is certainly known of them. 

Victor and Felix were especially common names in 
Africa; and a Numidian bishop Nabor attended the 
Donatist council of Cirta A.D. 305. 

Ambrose evidently has in mind an epigram of Da- 
masus {Epigr. XLVI. ed, Ihm), which he may recently 
have seen. The first four lines of this run: 

hicola nunc Christi, fuerat Carthaginis ante, 
tempore quo gladius secuit pia uiscera matris, 

6-1 



84 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



sanguine mutauit patriam, nomenque gemisque ; 
Romanum ciiieni sanctorum fecit origo. 
(Cp. also Epigr. VIII. 5 ducis iittpia castra relinqimnt.) 



Abcdeghik Vap 

Victor, Nabor, Felix, pii 
Mediolani martyres, 
solo hospites, Mauri genus, 
terrisque nostris aduenae. 

torrens harena quos dedit, 
anhela solis aestubus, 
extrema terrae finium, 
exsulque nostri nominis. 



1 . pii qualifies martyres ; the 
predicate probably begins at this 
point. 

2. Mediolani] 'of (not 'at') 
Milan' ; as to this see introd. The 
usual scanning is Mediolattum (or 
-turn). All poets take licence in the 
pronunciation of proper names, 
which otherwise would often be 
excluded from verse. 

3. BOlo hospites] 'strangers' or 
'guests to the soil.' So in Ps. 
cxviii. XX. 44 (Sebastian, who was 
brought to Rome and there put to 
death) illic, quo hospes aduenit, 
domic ilitun inimortalitatis perpetuae 
collocatiit. 

Mauri genus] * Moors by race,' 
cp. Verg. Aen. v. 285 Cressa genus 
Pholoe. Elsewhere Ambr. appears 
always to use the abl., which was 
much commoner in prose until quite 
late times; as Epist. xxiv. 8 trans- 
rhenanus genere. 

5. harena] ' the scorching desert,' 
viz. Mauretania. Several touches in 
this hymn suggest that Ambr. has 
in his mind Hor. Od. i. xxii. 

dedit] ' produced ' as at Hor. Od. 
Jii. vi. 47, or perhaps strictly 'has 
given us.' 



6. anhela] 'panting,' strictly of 
the inhabitants, by an easy transi- 
tion applied to the land. The line is 
imitated by Ennodius Hymn. I. 3 
anhela lucis aestibus. 

7 f. 'at earth's outermost border 
(lit. outermost of the borders of the 
earth) and that shares not our name.' 
At the edge of the earth ran the 
surrounding ocean, beyond which 
there was no more land. ' Our 
name ' is the Latin name : the mar- 
tyrs were not Roman citizens ; cp. 
Hor. Od. IV. xiv. 7 (the Vindelici) 
legis expertes Laiinae, and the fre- 
quent use oi nomen as in Od. III. v. 
10, IV. XV. 13. 

ezsul... nominis] Ambr. often 
uses a gen. after exsul; e.g. in 
Luc. IV. 66 paradisi exsules ; cp. in 
Luc. V. 108 regni caeleslis extorres. 
At 62 b. 13, 73. 10 it takes an 
abl. 

Magistretti {Mon. tut. lit. Ambr.) 
points extrema terrae, finium ex- 
sulque n. n., i.e. 'at the edge of 
earth, having no share in our 
territories and our name.' But the 
supplying oi nostrorum \f'\\.h fimu?/i 
is harsh, and the construction of the 
words unnatural. 



HYMN XL AMBROSE 



85 



suscepit hospites Padus 
mercede magna sanguinis : 
sancto repleuit Spiritu 
almae fides ecclesiae ; 

et se coronauit trium 
cruore sacro martyrum, 
castrisque raptos impiis 
Christo sacrauit niilites. 

profecit ad fidem labor, 
armisque docti bellicis 
pro rege uitam ponere, 
decere pro Christo pati, 

non tela quaerunt ferrea, 
non arma Christi milites. 



10 



15 



20 



9. Padns here means its basin, 
for neither Mihin nor Lodi is actu- 
ally on that river. 

10. mercede ... sanguinis] The 
price they (ultimately) paid for their 
new citizenship was their blood. 
Ambr. uses the phrase de Jacob i. 22 
sanguinis sui niercedetn ; de Off. III. 
19 vtercedein sanguinis; cp. Dama- 
sus XLVi. 3 (quoted in the intro- 
duction) sanguine tnutauit patriain 
nomenque genusque ; ib. LII. 2 
sanguine niutasti patriani ; Priid. 
Perist. V. 3 quo sanguinis uierces 
iibi I corona Vincent i da/iir. 

1 1. Cp. Epist. I.X.WI. 1 1 replctos 
Spiritu sancto; 4. 15. This line 
seems to imply that they were con- 
verted to Christianity in north Italy. 

12. fides ecclesiae is a phrase 
often used by Ambr. ; e.g. de Abr. 
I. 87, ib. II. 74 ; cp. 14. 4. This 
faith led them to the gift of the 
Spirit. 

13. The subject of coronauit is 
fides m. 12. Note the alliteration in 

this stanza. 

15. Cp. Damasus viii. 5 ducis 
inipia castra relinquunt. For the 
simple abl. castris of the place 
from which they were torn cp. 



the use of caelo 12. 9, and Fort. IV. 
xxiv. 10 hoc rapuit mundo. It may 
however be dat. like Hor. Od. I. ix. 
pignus dereptum lacertis. 

16. The immediate reference 
seems to be to their conversion, not 
without thought of their martyrdom. 

sacrauit] Cp. 14. 4. 

1 7 f. Their previous discipline 
told, now that they were the sol- 
diers of Christ. 

i8f. 'Having learnt by military 
service to lay down life .for a king, 
that it is comely to suffer for Christ.' 
Taken thus the two clauses are 
parallel. But in the former the rex 
is abstract, including both the Em- 
peror and Christ. Devotion to the 
earthly sovereign prepared them for 
devotion to a higher. 

21. Cp. 2 Cor. ix. 4. The arms 
that a Christian needs are spiritual, 
cp. Ambr. in Ps. XLIII. 9 non ergo 
pugnauit rnilitaribus armis et ferreis 
telis populus ecclesiae ; de Off'. I. 201 
isti [martyres] sine armis uicerunt ; 
Ennod. Hymn. I. 6 qui bella Christi 
militat \ ntidus tiinetur ensibus. 

22. Christi niilites is a favourite 
expression of Ambr., based on 
2 Tim. ii. 3 ; cp. e.g. in Ps. 



86 



EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 



munitus armis arnbulat, 
ueram fidem qui possidet. 

scutum uiro sua est fides 25 

et mors triumphus, quem inuidens 
nobis tyrannus ad oppidum 
I^audense misit martyres. 

sed reddiderunt hostias 

rapti quadrigis corpora, 30 

reuecti in ora principum 

plaustri triumphalis modo. 



25 uero Abde Va. 

xxxviii. 35, Epist. xxn. 10 non 
saecuii viilites sed milites Christi. 

23. Cp. de Helta 16 munitus ar- 
mis ieiunii; in Ps. cxviii. i. n 
munitus es spiritalibus turmis. 

arnbulat tlius used is based on 
such Bible passages as Ps. cxviii. 
(cxix.) I etc. and is often found in 
Ambr. as ?« Ps. i. 24, in Ps. cxviii, 
i. 8. 

25. Eph. V. 16 sumentes scutum 
fidei. See among many like passages 

Ambr. Hex. V. 3r armis fidei semper 
et sen to deuotioiiis accinctus ; in Ps. 

XXXVI. 24, XLV. 22. 

26. mors tiiumplius] a truly 
Ambrosian , combination ; cp. de 
Fid. Pes. 11-45 (^'i^ martyrs) uiee- 
rttnt morttii, and the note on 4. 17. 
So at 13. 20 ' Peter suffered death ' 
is represented by the triumphal 
mortem subegit aspcram. So Dama- 
sus XII. 4 expresses 'who suffer 
martyrdom ' by portant qui ex hoste 
tropaea. 

27. t3rrannus] Anulinus, accord- 
ing to the worthless 'Acts.' TheGreek 
rdpavvos was an absolute despot, the 
word referring rather to the way in 
which the power was obtained than 
to the way in which it was exercised ; 
but it soon came to have the bad 
meaning implied in our 'tyrant.' 
Ambr. uses it of those in power and 
especially of persecutors; cp.de Off. 



30 raptis Ab'deg. 

I. 206 cum [Laurentius] inluso ty- 
rauno, impositus super craticulam 
exureretur ; and in the plural in 
Ps. CXVIII. xiv. 35 ; ib. xx. 46. 

oppidum Laudense] Laus Pom- 
peia, 21 miles S.S.E. of Milan, 
close to the modern Lodi. 

30. corpora is probably the ace. 
after the passive rapti, used almost 
like a Greek middle, a very common 
usage in Verg. e.g. Aen. 11. 57 
manus reuinctum, 'having his arms 
bound ' ; cp. Ambr. Hex. v. 57 
pulli...caecitate suffossi oculos with 
Aen. I. 228 lacrimis oculos suffusa, 
' having her eyes suffused with tears. ' 
Or corpora may be in apposition 
with hostias, hostias being like an 
adj. or predicate to corpora; ov cor- 
pora may be in apposition with rapti, 
according to the sense and not to the 
strict grammar. For hostias cp. 12. 5. 

31. principum] i.e. the perse- 
cutors, whom Ambr. calls principes 
mundi in Ps. I. 37, principes saecuii 
in Luc. II. 3. The rapti refers to 
the story that the pious Sabina of 
Lodi got hold of the bodies and 
carried them back to Milan, at that 
time the capital city and imperial 
residence. 

32. plaustri] the triumphal car. 
The bringing of the martyrs' bodies 
reminds Ambr. of- the triumphal 
procession. 



HYMN XII. AMBROSE 87 

Hymn 12 

This hymn, like 11, is given to Ambrose only on internal 
evidence, but here again this is overwhelming. Clearly the 
hymn and Epist. XXII, a letter written by Ambrose to 
his sister Marcellina at the time of the discovery of the 
martyrs' relics, were written by one and the same man. 
The most important parallels are pointed out in the 
notes. 

And in the hymn itself no one but Ambrose could have 
used the first person : '/sing, / the discoverer' (stanza l); 
'■we cannot be^ martyrs, but ii)e discover martyrs' (stanza 
III); 'e£^^ have seen' (stanza VIII). Who else could have 
claimed to be a contemporary and an eyewitness : ' Severus 
/j the man's name' (stanza v)? 

Augustine was then teaching rhetoric at Milan and he 
tells the story thus {Serm. CCI.XXXVI. 4): celebramus ho- 
dierno die,fratres, niemoriani in hoc loco positam sanctorum 
Protasii et Geruasii, Mediolancnsiuni martyrum. non eum 
diem quo hie posita est, sed eum diem celebramus, quando 
inuenta est pretiosa in conspectu Domini mors sanctorum 
eius per Ambrosium episcopum, homincm Dei, cuius tunc 
sanctae gloriae martyrum. etiam ego testis fui. ibi eram, 
Mediolani eram, facta miracula noui, adtestante Deo pre- 
tiosis mortibus sanctorum suorum ; ut per ilia miracula 
iam non solum ifi conspectu Domini, sed etiam in conspectu 
hominum esset mors ilia pretiosa. Caecus notissimus uni- 
2iersae ciuitati inluminatus est. cucnrrit, adduci se fecit, 
sine duce reuersus est. nondum audiuimus quod obierit ; 
forte adhuc uiuit. in ipsa eorum basilica, ubi sunt eorum 
corpora, totam uitam seruiturum se esse deuouit. nos ilium 
gauisi sumus uidoitem, reliquimus seruientem. 

Compare also his account in Cotif. IX. vii. 16. 

Gibbon in ch. XXVII gives a clear if prejudiced account 



88. EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

of the circumstances under which this hymn was written. 
* While he [Ambrose] maintained this arduous contest 
[against Justina], he was instructed by a dream to open 
the earth in a place where the remains of two martyrs, 
Gervasius and Protasius, had been deposited over three 
hundred years. Immediately under the pavement of the 
church two perfect skeletons were found, with the heads 
separated from their bodies and a plentiful effusion of 
blood. The holy relics were presented in solemn pomp 
to the veneration of the people ; and every circumstance 
of this fortunate discovery was admirably adapted to pro- 
mote the designs of Ambrose. The bones of the martyrs, 
their blood, their garments were supposed to contain a 
healing power; and their preternatural influence was com- 
municated to the most distant objects without losing any 
part of its original virtue. The extraordinary cure of a 
blind man and the reluctant confessions of several de- 
moniacs appeared to justify the faith and sanctity of 
Ambrose. And the truth of these miracles is attested 
by Ambrose himself, by his secretary Paulinus, and by 
his proselyte the celebrated Augustine, who at that time 
professed the art of rhetoric in Milan.... Their effect... on 
the minds of the people was rapid and irresistible.' 

Gibbon's tone of incredulity is not surprising. But no 
one can read the letter to Marcellina and connect Ambrose 
with any fraud however pious. 

Mone, using only XVth century MSS, came to the ex- 
traordinary conclusion that the hymn was written by a 
humanist of the XVth century; who in style, prosody 
and treatment of the subject, copied the old writers. But, 
apart from the fact that it is contained in early MSS, the 
style is that of Ambrose and of no one else, incisive and 
terse. If the hymn is rather more rhetorical in colouring 
than others of his, this may well be put down to the 



HYMN XII. AMBROSE 



89 



nature of its subject and the circumstances under which 
it was written. 

The finding of the martyrs' bodies was celebrated on 
June 19. 



Abcdeghk Fs le Mx Vaps 

Grates tibi, lesu, nouas 
noui repcrtor muneris 
Protasio Geruasio 
martyribus inuentis cano. 

piae latebant hostiae, 
sed non latebat fens sacer : 
latere sanguis non potest, 
qui clamat ad Deum patrem. 

caelo refulgens gratia 
artus reuelauit sacros : 

3 et G. Vs. 



I f. Cf. Ambr. Epist. xxii. 10 
gratias tibi, Domine lesu, qttod hoc 
tempore tales nobis sanctorum mar- 
tynim spiritus excitasti; ib. i scias 
eliam sanctos martyres a nobis re- 
pert os ; ib. 3 cum...considerarem... 
munera qtuie itt Sanctis martyribus 
re/ulserunt, imparem me, fateor, 
hiiic inuneri iudicabam. 

2. repertor might be in apposi- 
tion with lesu; ' tlie real gianter' 
or ' discoverer of a new kind of gift 
to give.' Christian writers freely 
used repertor in the sense of 
'cieator,' imitating Verg. Aen. Xii. 
829; cp. e.g. Juvenc. i. 35, ir. 405, 
IV. 479; [Uamas.] Lxviii. 11, 
LXix. 2. But in view of 12 it .seems 
better to make it nominative. 

4. inuentis] Cp. Epist. xxii. 1 1 
inuenimus unuin hoc, quo uidea- 
mur praestare maioribus. See the 
epigram of Damasiis on finding the 
relics of the martyr Eutychius 
(x.wii. 9 f. ) nocte sopor if era turhant 
insomnia tnentem, I osteiuiit latebra 



ittsontis quae membra teneret; \ quae- 
ritur, intientus colitur. 

5. hostiae] Cp. Epist. xxii. 13 
succedant uictimae triumphales in 
locum, ubi Christus hostia est. 11. 29. 

6. tons sacer is explained by the 
next line and by Epist. XXII. 2 ossa 
omnia Integra, sanguinis plurimum ; 
ib. 12 sanguine tumulus model, ad- 
p'arent cruoris triumphalis notae. 

8. ib. 13 sed non ego ad stiff ra- 
gium martyrum usurpo uocem dae- 
monum mclior uox est quam san- 
guis emittit. habet enim sanguis 
uocem canoram, quae de terris ad 
caelum peruenit, dicente Deo: san- 
guis fratris tui clamat ad me. et hie 
saui^'uis clamat colon's indicio, san- 
guis clamat operationis praeconio, 
sanguis clamat passionis triumpho. 
Ambr. often refers thus to Gen. iv. 
10, as at in Ps. cxviii. xix, 44, in 
Luc. I. 41, de lob 32, de Off. i. 201, 
Epist. II. 10. Cp. also Job xvi. 19, 
Is. xxvi. 21. 

y. caelo refulgens] ' shining from 



90 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



nequimus esse martyres, 
sed repperimus martyres. 

hie quis requirat testium 
uoces, ubi factum est fides ? 
sanatus inpos mentium 
opus fatetur martyrum. 

caecus recepto lumine 
mortis sacrae meritum probat : 
Seuerus est nomen uiro, 
usus minister publici. 

1 2 reperimus Abdgh Vap. 1 4 fide Ab^g le Vap. 



15 



heaven.' It was a dream which led 
to the discovery. For the abl. cp. 
castris raptos H. 5. But perhaps 
caelo may mean in the martyrs 
themselves; cp. Epist. xxil. 5 cae- 
lum erat Pauhis etc. 

11. Cp. ib. ii quia ipse martyr 
esse non mereor, hos nobis martyres 
adquisitii. For Ambr.'s yearning for 
the honour of martyrdom see in Ps. 
ex VII I. xxi. 9 utinam ego talis [sc. 
martyr\ esse merear. 

12. repperimus] present. This 
spelling is found in the best Mss 
also of Ambr. passim, Nicet. <ie 
Psalm. Bon. 3, Sedul. Carm, v. 142, 
Fort. VII. xxrt, 4; and Lofstedt on 
Aetheria p. 235 gives several other 
examples. We must remember that 
the prefix re- stands for red-, which 
fact accounts for the similar forms 
rel-latus (Ter. Phorm. 21), rel-li- 
quiae, redduco, renmio (98. 9) be- 
sides red-eo, red-do ; cp. Munro on 
Lucr. I. 228, II. looi ; Brix on 
Plant. Capt. gif)reclusit. 

13. For the question cp. 8. 27 
(note). 

14. fides] 'the proof; cp. Hex. 
II. 1 fidem eins disputationis, I v. 15 
ridiculttm...hinc /idem suae disputa- 
tionis arcessere. 

15. Several persons needing ex- 
orcism were healed, as we know 
from Epist. xxii.. 9 cognotiistis. 



imtno uidistis ipsi multos a dae- 
moniis purgatos, from Paulinus' Life 
of Ambr. 14 obsessa etiam corpora a 
spiritibus inmundis curata, and 
from 25 f. below, inpos therefore 
stands rhetorically for inpotes; cp. 
8. 15 note. 

mentiiim seems to be used in the 
plural partly for the sake of the 
rhyme, which Ambr. occasionally 
affects, for he generally uses the 
singular of mens, as at 2. 30, 3. 17, 
28, 4. 3 etc. 

16. fatetur] 'declares.' Cp. 
Damas. Llll. i quid loquar aut 
sileam ? prohibet dolor ipse faleri. 

17. A second miracle was the 
recovery of sight by a blind man, 
which Ambr.'s Arian opponents 
denied ; Epist. XXll. 17 negant 
caecum inluminatum, sed ille non 
7iegat se snitatum. 

18. mortis sacrae] Cp. in Ps. 
CXVIII. XX. 10 (of a martyr) taeti- 
antis animi quod diutius aifferaiur 
sacrae mortis corona, 15. 11, 18. 7. 

meritum] 'virtue,' 'power'; cp. 
Epist. XXII. 19 martyribus, quortim 
merita iam dudu?n uigent. 

19. Cp. ib. 17 notus homo est, 
ptiblicis cum ualeret fnancipatus ob- 
sequiis, Seuerus nomine, lanius 
minister io. deposuerat officium , post- 
quam inciderat impedimentum. So 
Paulinus {Vit. Ambr. 14) caecus 



HYMN XII. AMBROSE 



91 



ut martyr um uestem attigit 
et ora tersit nubila, 
lumen refulsit ilico 
fugitque pulsa caecitas. 

soluta turba uinculis, 
spiris draconum libera, 
emissa totis urbibus 
domum redit cum gratia. 

uetusta saecla uidimus, 
iactata semicinctia, 

24 fuit Ab. 26 spumis Vs. draconis Vs. 27 et missa Ab. 



30 ■ 



etiam, Seuerus nomine, qui nutu 
usqice in eadem basilica, quae dicitur 
Ambrosiana, in quant niartyruni 
corpora sunt translata, religiose 
seruit. 

20. 'an officer of the public 
service ' ; cp. Dill Roman Society 
p. 232 : ' Of all departments of ad- 
ministration, probably none caused 
the Emperor greater anxiety than 
that concerned with the food-sup- 
plies of the capital An army of 

public servants incorporated in here- 
ditary guilds... were charged with 
the duty of bringing up supplies 
and preparing them for consump- 
tion.' 

21 f. Epist. xxn. 17 claniat quia, 
ut contigit fimbriam cU ueste mar- 
ly rum, qua sacrae reliquiae iiesti- 
untur, redditum sihi lumen sit. 

23. Cp. in Ps. XXXVI. 30 [Deus] 
tetigit caecorum oculos et caecitate 
depuha lumen refulsit oculorum ; 
cp. Fort. Vit. Mart. ii. 40 (of 
Martin's restoring sight to a blind 
eye) serena dies deter sa nube re- 
fulsit. 

25. uinculis] the plagues spiritual 
and bodily from which they were 
released. 

26. draconum] i.e. of evil spirits ; 
cp. in Luc. IV. 61 quis est ille, qui 
in synagoga spiriium dacmonii habe- 
bat inmundum nisi populus ludae- 



orum, qui quasi serpentinis spiris 
reuincttis... ; de Laps. Virg. 18 qtii- 
bus te spiris serpens ille nequissimus 
obligauit ! The devil is draco at 
Rev. xii. 16 f., and often in Ambr. 

27. Xo\\&\= omnibus, like the 
Italian tutti and the French tous. 
This use was at first confined to 
expressions of time, beginning with 
Plaut. Miles 112 quoi bini custodes 
semper totis horis occubant, and to 
military language, as Caes. Bell. 
Civ. III. xliv. 6 totis copiis. The 
poets Verg., Propert., Juv., Stat, 
used toti more freely, but we do 
not find the u.se in prose writers 
before Seneca. After his time it is 
common, especially in Gallic Latin 
and in jurists. Prud. has Perist. iv. 
7 1 Christ us in totis habitat plateis, 
and even uses totus in the singular ; 
thus Psychom. 217 latum hominem, 
' every man, ' 450 totus miles. Ambr. 
de Nab. 117 has totis diebus; cp. 
Schmalz 628, Rcinsch 338. 

28. gratia] ' thankfulness ' ; cp. 
Paulin. I.e. 14 obsessa etiam corpora 
a spiritibus inntundiscurata, summa 
cum gratia domum repetebant. 

29. ' We have seen the ages of 
old,' i.e. miracles and enthusiasm 
like those of the earliest church ; 
cp. Epist. xxn. 9 re par at a uctusti 
temporis miracula. The reference .is 
to Acts v. 15 and xix. 12. 



92 EARLY LA TLN H YMNS 

tactuque et umbra corporum 31 

aegris salutem redditam. 

31. umbra] Cp. Epist. xxii. 9 St Peter; c^. Hex. iii. 71; in Ps. 

\tiidistis\plurimos etiam^ubi uestem XL. 30; in Ps. cxviii. xix. 5; de 

sanctorum manibtis contigerunt, eis Off.Wl. 3 transibant apostoli et um- 

quibus laborabatit debilitatibtis abso- bra eorum cufabat infirmos. tatige- 

lutos,...uf?ibra quadam sanctortun ban fur uesti>iienta eorum et sanitas 

corporum plerosqiie sanatos cernitis. deferebatur. Paulinus Vit. Ambr. 48 

quanta oraria icutitabantur ! quanta tells us that at the funeral of Ambr. 

indumenta super reliquias sacratis- himself iactabant . . .turbcu uirotum 

simas et tactu ipso medicabilia re- ac vndierum oraria uel semicinctia 

posctmtur! More than once Ambr. sua, ut corpus sancti aliquatenus 

refers to this passage in the life of ab ipsis contingeretur. 



Hymn 13 

This hymn is not ascribed to Ambrose by any early 
writer, but it is certainly his. It is contained in the series 
of the Ambrosian MSS and is replete with Ambrose's 
words and phrases. Thus, to give one example, in line 7 
praesul is used as an appellation of God, as Ambrose 
almost always uses it. See de Isaac 1 1 ciii praesttl Domi- 
nus adest ; ib. 18 stimmum Deum praesidem poscat \ ib. 65 
cui Pater Dens praesul sit] and many like passages. 
Other writers, especially later ones, generally use the 
word to denote the leaders of the church; cp. 123. 2. 

Besides the many other coincidences of thought and 
expression which are pointed out in the notes, one brought 
forward by Steier (p. 614) is of a subtle and convincing 
character. In line 19 f we read sed nolens mortem siibegit 
asperam. What is the special force here of z/^/^^j- ? This 
is shewn by a passage from Ambrose's sermon against 
Auxentius 1 3 [Peter] quamuis esset cupidus passio7iis, ta- 
men contemplatione populi precantis inflexus est. rogabatnr 
enim ut ad instituendum et confirmandum popttlum se re- 
seruaret. quid mnlta f node muris egredi coepit, et uidens 
in porta Christum occurrere urbemque ingredi ait : Domine, 
quo uadis ? respondit Ckristus : uenio iterum crucijigi. 



HYMN X III. AMBROSE 93 

intellexit Petrus ad suam crucem pertinere responsum... 
intellexit ergo Petrus quod iterum crucifigendus esset in 
seruulo. itaque sponte renieauit. These last words of the 
sermon spotiie remeauit answer to uolens...asperam of the 
hymn. It is noteworthy that this appearance to Peter is 
not related by any earlier author than Ambrose. 

Apart from these indications of Ambrose's workman- 
ship Biraghi and Dreves bring forward another proof of 
the great antiquity of the hymn. Cp. Benson Cyprian 
p. 484 f In stanza VII three lines of procession are 
mentioned, whereas Prudentius at his visit to Rome c. 403 
already knew of only t%vo\ cp. Perist. Xll. 57 f 

adspice per bifidas plebs Romula funditiir plateas, 

lux in duobus feruet una festis. 
nos ad utrumque tamen gressu properemus incitato, 

et his et illis perfruamur hymnis, 
ibimus ulterius, quafert uia pontis Hadriani 
• laeuam deinde Jluminis petemus. 

transtiberina prius soluit sacra peruigil sacerdos, 

mox hue recurrit duplicatque uota. 

The two places of celebration were the grave of St Peter 
on the Vatican and that of St Paul outside the walls. 
The two roads would be the uia Aurelia and the ida 
Ostiensis. The third sacred spot, disused in 403, would 
probably be the catacomb of Callistus, the third road being 
the uia Appia. It is likely enough, as Dreves suggests 
{Aurelius Ambrosius 76), that it was on the omission of 
the celebration in the catacomb that the inscription was 
set there by Damasus {Epigr. XXVI.) which begins : Hie 
habitasse prius sanctos cognoscere debes, \ nomina quisque 
Petri pariter Paulique requiris. 



94 



EARLY LA TLN HYMNS 



Aabcdfgh E^ Fl Gm Habcdfi/3 ladeno Maehkx Vacps 

Apostolorum passio 
diem sacrauit saeculi, 
Petri triumphum nobilem, 
Pauli coronam praeferens. 

coniunxit aequales uiros 
cruor triumphalis necis, 
Deum secutos praesulem 
Christi coronauit fides. 

primus Petrus apostolus, 
nee Paulus inpar gratia; 



lo 



2 saeculis Vap^. 3 nobilis Va. 

Abdegh Vap. 

1. It is to denote that Christ is 
the true day (cp. 3. 4) that saeculi"\% 
added to dies to denote a day in the 
usual sense of the word ; cp. Cypr. 
de Oral. Dom. 35 Chrishis dies est 
uerus, sole ac die saeculi recedente. 
Ainbr. often uses the phrase, as in 
Ps. XXXVI. 32 dies saeculi viali 
sunt ; cp. Ecclus. i. 2 dies saeculi quis 
dinumerauit. Ambr. constantly uses 
saeculi almost in an adjectival sense 
though he also says dies saecularis 
as at in Luc. iv. 40. 

3. triumpliuin] again definitely 
used as a description of martyrdom ; 
see 4. 17 note. 

4. Pauli coronam] alluding to 
2 Tim. iv. 8, where the preceding 
words shew that the athlete's wreath 
is meant, cp. 7. 24 note. Among 
many similar references in Ambr.'s 
prose writings see in Ps. xxxvi. 42 
Paulus .. .coronam imienit \ ib. 54 
Paulus... qui esset iam proximus ad 
coronam ; ib. 56 qui etiam coronam 
cucepit. 

6. cruor triumphalis] an Am- 
brosian expression, cp. Epist. xxii. 
12 cuiparent cruoris triumphalis 
notae ; ib. 1 3 uictimae triumphales. 
But as necis would be a little bald 
by itself, triumphalis may be geni- 



4 proferens Hd. 7 praesules 



tive agreeing with it. In either case 
triumphalis answers to triumphum 
in 3, and coronauit to corormm in 4, 
for the purpose of equalizing the 
two martyrdoms. 

7. praesulem] 'leader,' a word 
formed like consul, exsul; see in- 
troduction. Dirksen quotes from 
the Code of Justinian auctor et 
praesul totius operis. 

8. Christi... fides] 'their faith in 
Christ.' 

9. Ambr. in Ps. XLlil. 40 Petrus 
ecclesiae praeponitur postquam temp- 
tatus a diabolo est. ideoque ante 
signtficat Dominus quid sit illud, 
quod postea eum pastorem elegit 
dotninici gregis. Ambr.'s view of 
Peter's primacy is expressed de 
Incarn. 32 primatum confessionis, 
utique non honoris ; primatutnjidei, 
non ordinis. 

Petrtls] see 4. 28. 

10. nee qualifies inpar : ' and 
Paul not unequal.' See 2 Cor. xi. 5. 
Cp. de Spir. 11. 158 nee Paulus 
inferior Petro, quamuis ilk eccle- 
siae fundamentimi, et hie sapiens 
architectus...nec Paulus, inquam, 
indignus apostolorum collegio, cum 
primo quoque facile conferendus et 
nulli secundus. nam qui se inparem 



HYMN XIII. AMBROSE 



95 



electionis uas sacrae, 
Petri adaequauit fidem. 

uerso crucis uestigio 
Simon honorem dans Deo 
suspensus ascendit, dati 
non inmemor oraculi. 

praecinctus, ut dictum est, senex 
et eleuatus ab altero 
quo noUet iuit, sed uolens 



15 



17 ut iam d. Fl, iam ut d. Id. 
est ductus senex ab a. len Vc. 
19 quod Ab' Gm la Vap^ ibat lad. 

nescit,facit aequalem. Reference to 
1 Cor. iii. 10 is also made by 
Ennod. (p. 122 ed. Hart el) uene- 
runt cum eo caelorum radii... Petrus 
et Paulus. qui enim in restaura- 
tionem aedis essent necessarii nisi 
architectus et petra, nisi lapis et 
superaedificans, nisi fundamentum 
et opifex. 

II. Acts ix. 15 uas electionis est 
niihi. Ambr. constantly uses this as 
an appellation of St Paul, even 
without mentioning his name, as in 
Ps. XLViii. 7 cum aptum organum 
sibi et uas electionis ijiuenerit. And 
he often, in his own way, modifies 
it (as here by adding sacrae) thus 
de Abr. 27 uas electionis dominicae ; 
in Ps. CXVUI. xiv. 24 zias electionis 
diuinae. 

13. Nearly three stanzas are now 
devoted to St Peter. 

uestigio] ' the foot ' of the cross. 
Elsewhere Ambr. applies the word 
more naturally to the Apostle's 
own feet; de lob i. 2 de Petro 
quid loquar? qui crucem suam 
futura reinufieratione indignmn ar- 
bitratus inuerso suspendi poposcit 
uestigio, ut aliquid passioni suae 
adderet; in Ps. cxviii. xxi. 21 non 
fuit opprobrio Petro crux Christ i, 
quae tanlutn ei gloriae dedit, ut in- 
uersis Christum honoraret uestigiis; 



17, 18 iam ut (ut iam Vc) dictum 
18 om. et E^ Gm Hdf/S Id Mhk Vs. 



' Hegesippus ' in. 2 poposcit ut in- 
uersis uestigiis cruci adfigeretur. 

14. honorem dans Deo] a Bible 
phrase (Rom. iv. 20)' used by Ambr. 
to represent Joh. xxi. 19 'he should 
glorify God.' 

15. 'not unmindful of the pro- 
phecy vouchsafed to him ' ; Joh. xxi. 
18, 2 Pet. i. 14. 

16. oraculi] a word especially 
used by Ambr. to denote Bible 
utterances, perhaps in imitation of 
Philo's use of xpj/trytiis, as the Bene- 
dictine editors suggest : see their 
note on Ambr. de Fuga 19. But 
Juvencus l. 237 has oracula uatum. 

There is no need (with Biraghi) 
to rewrite oraculi non inmemor. 
The -or is in Ambr.'s prosody 
sufficiently lengthened by the stress 
of the metre. Cp. v. 30. 

17. praecinctus] 'girt up.' 
Flowing eastern robes had to be 
girt up, especially in front (prae), to 
give the limbs free play ; cp. i Kings 
xviii. 46. 

ut dictum est] sc. in that oracu- 
lum. Senex vcfers \.ocum...senueris. 

18. eleuatus] answers to the 
words 'and shall carry thee,' Joh. 
xxi. 18. Ab altero is joined to prae- 
cinctus as well as to eleuatus. 

19. nollet] subjunctive, because 
in virtual oratio obliqiia : ' whither 



96 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



mortem subegit asperam. 20 

hinc Roma celsum uerticem 
deuotionis extulit, 
fundata tali sanguine 
et uate tanto nobilis. 

tantae per urbis ambitum 25 

stipata tendunt agmina, 
trinis celebratur uiis 
festum sacrorum martyrum. 

10 subiecit la. 21 hie lo Mh. 24 nobili Ab'dg Fl Hbd^ Id'n Vs. 



he would not, as the Lord had 
said.' 

See Antibr. in Luc. X. 177 f. 
Petrus etsi paratus erat animo 
subire mariyrmm, tatiien, ubi peri- 
culum aduenit, constantiam mentis 

injlexit Petrus uidetur nolle, sed 

parat nincere ; and for the special 
force of uolens see the passage from 
the Sermon against Auxentius quoted 
in the introduction. 

20. See 11. 26 note. 

21-24 dwell first upon St Peter, 
and then on St Paul, Ambr. seizing 
the most salient point in the life of 
either Apostle : Peter's death, Paul's 
writings. Hinc, then, will refer not 
only to the two preceding stanzas, 
but to the whole of the foregoing 
verses. 

uerticem... extulit] Cp. iti Ps. 
XLVII. 6 Petro, Paulo. ..qui graues 
et excelsi uiri uelut fundamenta et 
culmina sunt ecclesiae...praecelsi 
quasi culmina, qui uerticem eius 
turribus suae uirtutis erexerint; 
de Virg. 50 hi excelsum . . .cacumen 
fidei extulerutit. 

deuotio is a favourite word of 
Ambr., usually combined w'lih Jides, 
e.g. Hex. IV. 7 ecclesia maius deuo- 
tionis suae et Jidei toto orbe lumen 
effundat ; ib. I. 21, V. 31 and 68. 

23. Eph. ii. 20. Cp. the passages 
from de Spir. and Ennodius quoted 
on 10, and that from in Ps. XLVii 



quoted on 21. Note that Rome is 
now Christian Rome. 

24. uate tanto] 'such a pro- 
phet ' viz. St Paul. For ttate cp. 14. 
6. Ambr. in Luc. Ii. 29 tanti uatis 
(of St John the Baptist). Biraghi 
gives examples of the use of the 
■^oxA = sacerdos, but that meaning 
seems unlikely here. 

nobilis] 'ennobled,' as at 7. i. 

25. tantae... urbis] 'the great 
city,' here of course Rome : at 
Epist. XX. 9 Ambr. uses the same 
words of Milan. 

urbis ambitum] Cp. Hex. vi. 2 
toto eos circumdiicit wbis ambitu ; 
in Ps. cxviii. xxii. 37 ambitum 
totius urbis. 

26. 'The serried crowds take 
their way.' For stipata cp. Verg. 
Aen. XI. 12 omnis eum stipata tege- 
bat I turba ducum ; Ambr. Hex. III. 
30 (of a prosperous man) stipatus 
clientibus. 

agmina] as at 14. 22 ; cp. in Ps. 
LXi. 20 uidet agmina per sequentium ; 
Epist. XXIV. 8 barbarorufn stipatus 
agminibus. 

27. trinis... uiis] See the intro- 
duction to this hymn. 

29. ' One would think that the 
whole world was coming forth.' 
mundus in classical Latin meant the 
universe, as Lucr. 1. "j^Jiammantta 
moenia mnndi. But cp. Propert. V. 
vi. 19 hue mundi coiere manus ; 



HYMN XIV. AMBROSE 



97 



prodire quis mundum putet, 
concurrere plebem poli : 
electa gentium caput, 
sedes magistri gentium. 
32 sedet Gm, sedens Vs, fides H/3 lo Mk. magistra Mk. 



30 



Lucan vil. 234 sanguine tnundi 
fuso (in both cases of a single battle), 
quis... putet] Cp. 9. 13. 

30. plebem poli] i. e. the angels ; 
cp. de Virg. 11. \i quanta angelorum 
laetitia plaudentiuin, quod habitat e 
inereatur in caelo ! For the scansion 
cp. V. 16. 

31. electa] 'O elect lady,' cp. 
I Pet. V. 13, 2 Joh. I, 13. Ambr. 
regarded the ^/cXe/cr^ Kvpla as the 
Roman church. It gives point to 
the appellation that it is taken from 
St Peter's own epistle. Possibly 
electa caput are to be taken together, 
as 2. 15 ipse petra. 

g^entlum caput] ' the head of the 
peoples of the world,' cp. Epist. 
XI. 4 totius orbis Romani caput Ro- 
vianam ecclesiam ; Prosper Aqui- 
tanus de Ingratis 51 f. sedes Roma 
Petri, quae pastoralis honoris \ facta 
caput tnundo, quidquid non possidet 
armis \ religione tenet', Fortunat. 
III. vii. 19 (of Peter and Paul) a 
facie hostili duo propugnacula prae- 
sunt, I quos fidei turres urbs, caput 
orbis, habet; id. Vlil. iii. 140 hi quo- 
rum cineres urbs, caput orbis, habet. 

32. magistri gentium] 'the 
teacher of the Gentiles ' (the nations 
in their religious aspect), viz. St 
Paul. The phrase comes from i Tim. 
ii. 7, 2 Tim. i. 11. Biraghi, Steier, 



and others, not unnaturally, interpret 
it to mean St Peter. In itself, it 
might appropriately be applied to 
him, and Ambr. felt no difficulty in 
speaking of Rome as the secies Petri. 
But it had become a special title of 
St Paul, — as special as uas electio- 
nis, — and in a poem which is as 
much on St Paul as on St Peter it 
would be impossible to apply it to 
St Peter without some qualification. 
It is true that the Vulg. at i Tim. 
ii. 7 has doctor gentium ; but Saba- 
tier gives magister as the reading of 
the Vetus Ital. : at 2 Tim. i. 11 
(where iBvthv gentium is an addition 
to the true text, and borrowed from 
X Tim.) both versions have magister. 
It is true also that in his prose 
writings Ambr. uses the word doctor 
in referring to these passages : in 
Ps. XXXVII. 28 gentium doctor 
electus. But he must have been 
quite familiar with the equivalent. 
Cp. Niceta de Rat. Fid. 7 idem 
magister gentium docet ; Leo Serm. 
in Nat. Petri et Pauli LXXX beatus 
coapostolus tuns, uas electionis et 
specialis magister gentium ; Faustus 
Rei. de Spir. S. 1 2 loquitur magister 
gentium ; Vincent. Ler. Comm. 9 
ille uas electionis, ille magister gen- 
tium. Of course sedes is le.ss tech- 
nical than our 'see.' 



Hymn 14 
That this hymn was written at a very early date is 
proved by a reference to it on the part of Maximus of 
Turin (c. 450) Horn. LXXIV nee inmerito enm \^Lanrentium\ 
apostolorum supparem praedicamus. He then goes on to 
paraphrase the wording of the hymn. It is also alluded 
to by Petrus Chrysologus (c. 450) Serm. CXXXV irrisum 



98 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

se dolens tyrannus auarus . . .flammas parari praecepit... 
tarn me uersate et si una pars coda est uorate. 

That the hymn was written by Ambrose is proved by 
the many parallels in points of phrase and style with his 
other works; but more decisively by the fact that the 
passages in the tract de Officiis Ministrorum which ^\\& 
a detailed account of the martyrdom of St Lawrence 
were obviously written by the composer of the hymn. See 
de Off. I. 204 non praetereamus etiani sanctum Laurefitium, 
qui cum uideretXystum episcopum. suum admartyriumduci^ 
flere coepit, non passionem. eius sed suam, remansionem.... 
205 ttmc Xystus ait : non ego te, fili, relinquo ac desero... 
mox uenieSy Jlere desiste, post triduum me sequeris . . .quid 
consortium passionis fneae expetis ? totam. tibi hereditatem 
eius dimitto. . .tibi ergo mando ?tostrae uirtutis successioneni. 
ib. II. 140 tale aurum sanctus Laurentius Domino reser- 
uauit, a quo cum quaererentur thesauri ecclesiae, promisit 
se demonstraturum. sequenti die pauperes duxit. interro- 
gatus ubi essent thesauri, quos promiserat, ostendit pauperes, 
dicens : hi sunt tJiesauri ecclesiae ; et uere thesauri in quibus 
Christus est. Cp. ib. I. 206 hie Laurentium sanctum ad 
hoc nullus urgebat, nisi amor deuotionis. tamen et ipse post 
triduum, cum inluso tyranno impositus super craticulam. 
exureretur: assum est, inquit, uersa et manduca. Epist. 
XXXVll. 37 quod ille uerbis gloriatus est, sanctus Laurentius 
factis probauit; ut uiuus exureretur et Jlammis superstes 
diceret: uersa, manduca. 

So runs the story as given by Ambrose, and also by 
Prudentius Perist. V, and by Augustine in Euang. loh. 
XXVII. 12, both of whom may have derived it from Am- 
brose. The true account of the martyrdoms of Xystus 
and Lawrence seems to be different \ 

' I hive made large use of Pio Franchi de' Cavalieri's S. Lorenzo e il 
supplizio delta graticola \a the Romisch, Quartahchrift, 1900, 159 f. 



HYMN XIV. AMBROSE 99 

In A.D. 258 the emperor Valerian, then on the point of 
starting for his disastrous expedition against the Persians, 
issued an edict that all bishops, priests and deacons should 
be summarily executed. On August 6th of this year 
Xystus, or Sixtus, who had been Bishop of Rome for 
about a year, was seized by the soldiers in the cemetery 
or catacomb of Praetextatus, whither he had gone with 
his faithful flock in spite of the law of A.D. 257 that the 
Christians were not to assemble in the cemeteries. Here 
he was at once beheaded with six of his deacons. Cp. 
Lib. Pontif. I. 1 5 5 capite truncatus et cum eo alii sex diaconiy 
Felicissintus et Agapitus, lanuarius, Magnus, Vincentius et 
Stephanus. 

This tale, it will be seen, differs widely from the later 
tradition as given below. Note that no mention is made 
of the crucifixion of Xystus, a point which Cyprian (who 
writes Epist. LXXX Xistum autem in cimeterio animad- 
uerstim sciatis Vlll id. A ug. die et cum eo diacones quattuor) 
would certainly not have omitted. This part of the later 
story may have arisen from misunderstanding a line of the 
inscription which Damasus wrote in honour of Xystus' 
deacons Felicissimus and Agapetus: Epigram XXIII (ed. 
Ihm) hi cruets inuictae comites pariterque minis tri \ rectoris 
sancti. It would be eagerly taken up, because it would 
supply a link between the death of Xystus and that of 
Lawrence, the only one of his deacons who escaped the 
slaughter in the cemetery of Praetextatus. For, if Xystus 
was at once beheaded, Lawrence would have had no 
opportunity of speaking to him, whereas crucifixion meant 
a lingering death. 

In this case the pathetic conversation mentioned by 
Ambrose and others cannot have taken place. And in 
fact some of the details of it are in themselves most 
unlikely; for Lawrence (as well as Xystus) must have 

7— a 



lOO EARLY LA TLN HYMNS 

known from the terms of the edict that he could not be 
disappointed of martyrdom. 

Then, to turn to the death of Lawrence, he was not 
roasted upon a craticula or gridiron, of which the earlier 
and more trustworthy story knows nothing, and which 
was a form of torture almost or quite unknown to the 
Romans, at least of the third century. 

The later tradition goes on to say that this cruel form 
of death was inflicted by the judge in his chagrin at not 
being able to obtain the treasures of the church. But 
here again we come across a difficulty. For after the law 
of A.D. 257 above mentioned no judge would have ex- 
pected any accumulated treasure ; nor is there any hint 
of search after this in the days of the persecution by 
Valerian. 

Between A.D. 258 and 380, at about which date Ambrose 
was writing, there was ample time for the legend to grow. 
Franchi suggests that the roasting on the gridiron may 
have been brought in owing to a misreading of the con- 
temporary account of Lawrence's martyrdom: — the word 
passus est (which is used about him in the Lib. Pontiff 
becoming assus est by the loss of its initial letter; cp. the 
expression assiim est used by Ambr. de Off. I. 206 quoted 
above. Or it may have arisen from a misunderstanding 
of Damasus Epigr. XXXII. i f uerbera carnificis,flammas, 
tormenta, catenas \ uincere Laurenti sola fides potuit; where 
flammas, coming where it does in the order of the words, 
cannot refer to Lawrence's death but only to a particular 
form of torture to which he was subjected. 

Cp. however P. Allard Dernieres Persecutions du III"'' 
Siecle pp. "jZ foil. 



HYMN XIV. AMBROSE 



lOI 



Abcdeghik Fis la Vaps 

Apostolorum supparem 
Laurentium archidiaconem 
pari corona martyrum 
Romana sacrauit fides. 

Xystum sequens hie martyrem 
responsa uatis rettulit : 



I suppar est Vs. 
martyris la, parit Vs 
Syxtuni'Systum Sixtum varii. 

1. supparem] 'almost equal,' one 
of Ambr.'s favourite words; cp. in 
Ps. XXXVII. 54 quoniam subsecutus 
sum iustitiam. quanta uis uerbi in 
unius syllabae adiectione, ut subse- 
cutum se diceret iustitiam, non se- 
cutum ! propior est enim qui subse- 
quitur quam ille qui sequitur, et 
suppar quam impar, et successio he- 
redis magis quam accessio nuncu- 
patur; de Incam. 26 uirginis enim 
[CAristum] supparem negasti esse 
non temporis. ego autem et supparem 
uirginis secundum susceptionem cor- 
poris non negabo ; de Cain I. 15 ; de 
Fide Res. T15; Epist. xv. 5, xi. 11, 
12. 

2. archidiaconem] the form used 
by Jerome Epist. cxxv. 15, CXLVI. 
I, Fort. Vit. Mart. in. 38, cp. iv. 
XV. 3 Bobolenus honor e dicuon. 
Ronsch p. 262 gives several ex- 
amples of diacon. Bayard [Cyprian 
p. 56 f.) says that Cyprian uses 
generally the o form of diaconus, 
never the nom. diacon, which is 
found in Greek inscriptions of the 
Ilird century; he refers to Ramsay 
Church in the Roman Empire p. 442, 
Lightfoot Ignatius I. 501. 

3. ' With equal wreath of martyr- 
dom '; /ar/is intentionally contrasted 
with supparem : in office less, in mar- 
tyrdom he was their equal. So 
Damasus Xiv. i f. (where the martyr 
Tarsicius is compared with St Ste- 
phen) par meritum, quicumque legis, 
cognosce duorum. For the gen. mar- 



2 Laurentius arch-us Vs. 3 parem coronam 

4 Romanam Vs. fidem la. 5 Xistum 



tyrum cp. 4. 2 1 nuptae foedera. With 
corona martyrum cp. Ambr. de Off. 
II. 141 Laurentius... scuram martyrii 
accepit coronam; in Ps. cxvill. xx. 
^^ibipassusest, hoc est,ibi coronatus', 
de Virg. II. 35 corona martyrii \ 
Epist. LXiil. 5 stabat [/<?j«j] quasi 
paratus ut coronaret suum milttem. 

4. Romana... fides] 'a truly Ro- 
man faith ' i.e. that of the Roman 
Church, not of L. himself. The 
phrase is derived from St Paul's 
words, Rom. i. 8 ; cp. Cypr. Epist. 
LV quorum fides apostolo praedicante 
laudata est ; Ambr. Epist. XI. 4 totius 
orbis Romani caput Romanam ec- 
clesiam atque illam sacrosanctam 
apostolorum fidem ; Jer. c. Ruf. I. 4 

fide Romana pollet ecclesia. 

For the way in which Lawrence 
was singled out from other Roman 
martyrs and ranked with the Apostles 
(j<7fra«?V), see Aug. Servi. CCXCVI. vi. 
9 iacet Petri corpus Romae,... iacet 
Pauli corpus Romcu, Laurentii cor- 
pus Romae; Alcuin Carm. Lxxxviil. 
16 (p. 311 ed. DUmmler) Johannes, 
Paulus, pariter Laurentius atque \ 
consertient aram hanc miserante Deo. 
lb. ex. r f. hanc pius Andreas meritis 
tutabitur aram, et leuita simuluictor 
Laurentius ignis. 

5. sequens] following to the place 
of execution, which in the case of 
crucifixion would be without the city. 
Cp. Lk. xxiii. 27. 

6. uatis] 'prophet' in reference 
to line 8. But Ennodius {Hymn. iii. 



I02 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



lO 



' maerere, fili, desine, 
sequere me post triduum.' 
nee territus poenae metu 
heres futurus sanguinis 
spectauit obtutu pio, 
quod ipse mox persoluerat. 
iam tunc in illo martyre 
egit triumphum martyris, 
successor aequus syngraphum 
uocis tenens et sanguinis. 

7 mereri Adgh Vp. deside Va. 8 sequeris Vs. 

{pro metu heres) Vs. lo fusurum sanguinem Vs. 

persolueret Va. 13 nam Vs. 15 syngrapham (singrafam) Adgh la 

Vap. 16 uocem t. e. sanguinem Vs. 

tunc petit absolui Peirus,quidq7iaestio 
uellet, I ipse Pharisaeis quam mox 
scribisque dedisset. Arnob. adu. JVa- 
tiones il. 21 mox natum, IV. 21 mox 
traditam . . . uitam. 

ipse is used as in the Pythagorean 
a.\)jo% ^<f>a, ipse dixit, ' the master 
said'; cp. Cic. Nat. D. i. 5. Plautus 
often uses ipse to denote the master 
of the house. 



15 



9, 10 metueris 
1 2 ipsa mors Vs. 



I uaiis Cypriant) and other later 
writers quoted by Ducange use the 
word in the sense of 'bishop'; cp. 
'Hegesippus' l. 16 obsequia uatum, 
apparently translating twi* Upiasv, 

rettulit] 'received,' as in the 
phrase acceptum referre. 

9 f. ' but unscared by the fear of 
torture, he beheld.' 

territus... metu] as at 9. 9. 

10. heres] Cp. Xystus' words to 
Lawrence de Off. I. 205 quoted in 
the introduction ; in Ps. cxvili. i. 9 
qui heredes futiiri sunt promissorum 
caelestium ; ib. xiv. 40 heres sum 
mandatorum tuorum, successionem 
tuam . . .quaesiui. heres means 'in- 
heritor ' rather than ' heir. ' 

sanguinis] Cp. 9. 16. 

11. obtutu] one of Ambr.'s fa- 
vourite words, got from his master 
Vergil ; see Hex. iv. i, vi. 4 and 51, 
de Noe 1 7, in Luc. I. 5 ; Verg. Aen. I. 
495 etc. 

pio answers to fili in 7 and to 
heres in 10; cp. 7. 13 note. 

12. 'what his master had just 
accomplished. ' The evidence of the 
Mss compels us to read persoluerat, 
and with this reading it is simplest 
and best to take max as meaning 
'lately,' a sense which it often bears 
in late writers ; cp. Juvenc. III. 160 



13. 'even then in the person of 
that martyr.' Lawrence watching the 
martydom of Xystus ' celebrated his 
own martyr-triumph ' (martyris like 
martyrum in 3) as being already 
rightfully assured of it. 

in] ' in the person of,' cp. Ambr. 
de Nab. 67 reddite [munera] in 
paupere, in egeno soluite; in Ps. 
CXViiI. xiv. 38 in Henoch rapt us 
ad caelum es, in Helia leuatus es 
curru; 16. 25. 

15. successor] C^. de Off. l. 20t) 
tibi ergo mando nostrae uirtutis suc- 
cessionem ; de Excessu Fratris 1 5 
quid agam mei successor htredis ? ; de 
Inter pell. III. 22 ilia uera posteritas, 
quae non terris sed in caelo est. 
huiusmodi ergo uiris hereditas inopia 
est et mors successio. 

aequus] ' not inferior ' to his pre- 
decessor. 

sjmgraphum] 'bond, "covenant,' 



HYMN XIV. AMBROSE 



103 



post triduum iussus tamen 
census sacratos prodere 
spondet pie nee abnuit, 
addens dolum uictoriae. 

spectaculum pulcherrimum ! 
egena cogit agmina 
inopesque monstrans praedicat: 
' hi sunt opes ecclesiae.' 

uere piorum perpetes 
inopes profecto sunt opes, 
auarus inlusus dolet 
flammas et ultrices parat. 

fugit perustus carnifex 
suisque cedit ignibus : 



25 



18 prodire la, prodidit Vs. 
dicans Vap. 

uttered by Xystus' voice and ratified 
by his blood ; cp. cU Tob. 29 haec 
debitor is stullitia . . .pro emolumento 
hereditatis syngrapham obligationis. 
The form syngrapha is the usual 
one, but ff(rfypa<t><K is found in an 
inscription, and (at de Paenit. II. 80) 
tamquam ex syngrapho. 

17. tamen] ' however,' with little 
adversative force, as in the parallel 
passage de Off. 1. 206 quoted in the 
introduction. So in Luc. X. 145 
cum uiri fiigarentur, solae tamen ab 
angelo ne timeant, admonentur. 

18. census] 'treasures,' cp. 9. 16 
note. 

19. spondet... nee abnuit] Ambr. 
repeatedly expresses thus by a ne- 
gative what he has already stated 
positively as e.g. de Fide il. 122 
delictum faleor, peccatum non abnuo ; 
an idiom derived from O.T., see e.g. 
Ps. XXX. 12 (Bible version). 

pie] ' as in duty Ixjund' to Xystus, 
see II and 7. 13 note. 

21. recalls in form 10. 17. 

22. agmina] as at 13. 26. 



22 cedent Vs. 



30 
23 monstrat prae- 



23. Note the repeated play on the 
words opes, inopes. 

24. Cp. Ambr. Serm. c. Aux. 
33 habeo curarios : aerarii met pau- 
per es Chris ti sunt, hunc noui con- 
gregare thesaurum. 

25. 26 are Ambr.'s comment, not 
the words of Lawrence. They come 
in somewhat as do 7. 13 f. piscts 
bonus, etc. 

The parallel de Off. ii. 140 is in 
favour of our reading uere rather 
than uerae : — et uere thesauri in 
quibus Christus est. profecto is used 
much in the sense of ^«/w. perpetes, 
cp. 6. 28. 

27. dolet] 'chafes with anger.' 
The passage is borrowed in a Moz- 
arabic hymn Anal, xxviu cxi. 61 
inlusum ita se dolens Fabric i us. 

28. flammas ultrices] Cp. in Ps. 
XXXVI. 26 minis tr OS autem impie- 
tatis III tor ignis exuret ; Epist. XXXIV. 
10 poenis uUricibus. Cp. Verg. Aen. 
II. 587 ultricis flammae. 

30. Similarly of the martyrdom 
of the Maccabees ; Ambr. de Off. I. 



104 EARLY LA TIN H YMNS 

'uersate me,' martyr uocat, 

* uorate, si coctum est,' iubet. 32 

201 defecerunt supplicia, cesserunt iugiter\ etfac periclum, quid tuus\ 

tortores, non defecerunt martyres. Vulcanus ardens egerit. \ praefectus 

Cp. Dan. iii. 22. inuerti iubet. \ tuncille : coctum est, 

31 f. The grim jest is drawn out deuora \ et experimetttum cape, \ sit 

by Prud. Perist. il. 401 f. conuerte crudum an assum suauius. 
partem corporis \ satis crematam 

Hymn 15 

The antiquity of the oldest Martyr-hymn, Hke that of 
the foregoing, is proved by the allusion to it in a sermon 
of Maximus of Turin, who writes Serm. LXVI elegerunt 
itaque ecclesiarum. principes quorum. Dominus ipsum mundi 
principem triumphauit. This of course does not establish 
the fact of Ambrose's authorship, but it points in that 
direction. 

Nor is the more definite statement of the Venerable 
Bede decisive on this point, though he writes de Arte 
Metrica 1 1 sed et ambrosiani eo maxime currunt. ..in quibus 
pulcherrimo est decore compositus hymnus beatorum mar- 
tyrum, cuius loca inparia spondeus, iambus tenet paria ; 
cuius initium. est: Aeterna Christi munera. For, as was 
pointed out on p. 20, Bede elsewhere uses the term am- 
brosianus of hymns which cannot have been written by 
the great bishop of Milan. 

So once more we have to rely on the presence of the 
hymn in the MSS of the Ambrosian use, and above all on 
its intimate correspondence in vocabulary, phraseology 
and thought with the prose works of Ambrose. And these 
proofs are strong enough to settle the question. 

More than any other of Ambrose's hymns this one has 
in the course of time been changed and mutilated. It 
was transferred from its use in natali martyrum to cele- 
brate that of the apostles, and it then of course became 
necessary to omit certain stanzas which were no longer 



HYMN XV. AMBROSE 105 

suitable, and in line 2 instead of martyrum to read 
apostolorum, and in 30 either apostolorum or ipsorum. 
This modification of the original hymn began to be 
made about the Xth century, and it soon became almost 
universal. Daniel truly says (I. 29) : hymnum, ex Clich- 
touaei sententia oppido suauem et elegantem, ab ecclesia 
misere dilaceratum uidemus. nam illae strophae, quae 
martyrum laudibus aptisshne conueniunt, prima, tertia, 
quarta, quinta, octaua cantari solitae sunt in communi 
plurimorum martyrum. : reliquae et prima, mutato uersu 
secundo, in communi apostolorum. 

Aabcdefghik Ecdhjov/i<^ Fbn^ Gam Habcdfghi/SST; 
lacdhnop Mk Vabclp 

Aeterna Christi munera 
et martyrum uictorias, 
laudes ferentes debitas, 
laetis canamus mentibus. 

ecclesiarum principes, 5 

belli triumphales duces, 
caelestis aulae milites 
et uera mundi lumina, 

1 apostolorum gloriam Ev/t Gm Vc. uictoriam Hd" la, uictoria Ab'd^ 
Eo F^ Ga Ip Vap^. 3 canentes Ecdv^ Fn Gam Hbe' Mk Vbhl. 

4-7 omit. Idh VI. 6 et b. Eo Haci; In. -lis lo. 8 uere F^. 

1. 'The eternal gifts' are pro- ecclesiarum] the plural is used 
bably the martyrs themselves (cp. also at 4. 16. 

12. 2, Eph. iv. 8, 11), rather than 6. tarlumphales] Cp. 4. 17, 11. 

the grace which enabled them to 26 (notes). 

persevere to the end, or the rewards 7. milites] Cp. 11. 22 (note), 

bestowed upon them afterwards. The phrase caelestis aula recurs in 

2. 11. 26 note. Luc. v. 108. 

5f. 'Chieftains of the churches... 8. As Christ is the tme light of 

they conquered... and possess.' This the world (3. 3, 6. 30), so His 

iseasier than taking ^r»W?^^j as ace. martyrs are also 'true lights,' in a 

in loose apposition to munera. For different and yet in a real sense; cp. 

the phrase cp. Ambr. Epist. XXII. 7 Mt. v. 14, Phil. ii. 15, Ambr. Epist. 

principes populiquos alios nisi sanctos xxn. 6 (of the martyrs) ecce ueri 

martyres aestimare debemus ? dies pleni luminis etfulgoris aetemi ; 



io6 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



terrore uicto saeculi 
poenisque spretis corporis, 
mortis sacrae conpendio 
lucem beatam possident. 

traduntur igni martyres 
et bestiarum dentibus : 
armata saeuit ungulis 
tortoris insani manus. 

nudata pendent uiscera, 
sanguis sacratus funditur, 
sed permanent inmobiles 
uitae perennis gratia. 



15 



20 



9 uictor Ab^ Fn^ Ga Ih.. 12 uitam Ab Ec Fbf Gm Hg/3 Mk. 

15 saeuis Aa F^ Ga Hac. ungula He (ungulas Ec). 16 insanit He. 

17 pendens Eo, pendunt Fn Hbd Id Va. ao gloria Hd' (gloriae Hb). 



in Ps. cxviii. xiv. 27 Christo luce- 
bat martyrum lucerna. 

9. Ambr. in Luc. X. 12 indicium 
est uictores saeculi priticipibus ante- 

ferri. 

10. poenis corporis] Cp. 10. 14. 
Note that -que remains short before 
spretis, as in 22 the -a of inuicta 
before spes. Lucretius and Horace 
in his Satires take the same license. 

11. conpendlo]'ashortcut.' What 
others must attain by a long life is 
theirs by a swift death. Cp. de Nab. 
30 quaerit mortis conpendia ; de Off. 
III. 121 aut conpendium mortis erit 
aut salutis; Prud. Perist. II. 335 
praestetur ut mortis citae \ conpen- 
diosus exitus. Orosius vii. v. 11 
Pilatus autem praeses...tantis...an- 
goribus coartatus est, ut sua se trans- 
uerberans manu ttialorum conpen- 
dium mortis celeritate quaesierit. 

mortis sacrae] Cp. 12. 18 note, 
and 18. 7. 

13 f. Ambr. in Ps. cxvill. ix. 2 
quam pulchre etiam de martyribus 
dicitur, qui uere militant Christo... 
qui persecutiones, ungulas, gladios, 
incendia nvn timentes infestis se 



regibus obtulerunt; ib. xil. 30 in 
martyrio plurima flagella sustinuit, 
equuleo et ungulis, plumbo, lammtnis 
ardetitibus, gladio comprobatus ; cp. 
Heb. xi. 36 f. Ambrose wishes here 
to mark a climax : the fire is lifeless, 
the beasts do but obey the instincts 
of their nature, man indulges in re- 
finements of cruelty. 

15. ungulis] iron 'claws' or 
' hooks ' for tearing the flesh. Ambr. 
in Ps. CXVIII. XX. 10 exaratum 
ungulis ; Prud. Perist. i. 44 bisukas 
ungulas ; Cod. Theod. xv. 7 ungulis 
sulcantibus latera. 

saeuit] Ambr. de lacob 11. 47 (of 
persecutors) pardalicis feritatibus 
saeuiebant. 

16. iusani] 'mad with rage'; cp. 
Prud. Perist. II. 47 minister insani 
ducis 'yY-naoA. Hymn.wii. i^uesane 
tortor; 24. 1 1 aniens ; 116. 26 ; Hor. 
Od. I. xvi. 15 insani leonis . 

17 f. It is probably not an inten- 
tional disembowelling that is here 
alluded to, but such a ripping up of 
the body that the inwards protrude. 
Such things are common in the Atta 
Martyrum. 



HYMN XV. AMBROSE 



107 



deuota sanctorum fides, 
inuicta spes credentium, 
perfecta Christi caritas 
mundi triumphal principem. 

in his paterna gloria, 
in his uoluntas Spiritus, 
exultat in his Filius : 
caelum repletur gaudio. 

te nunc, redemptor, quaesumus, 
ut martyrum consortio 



25 



30 



21-24 omit. Idh VI. 21-28 omit. E<^. 24 principes Eo H)3. 

26 filii (pro spir.) He, 27 spiritus (pro fil.) He. 28 gaudiis Haf Ih. 
30 ipsoram Ed Haf In, illorum Ea. 



19. permanent InmoMlesJAmbr. 

often combines these words as at 
Hex. I. 22, in Ps. xxxvii. 21, ib. 
cxviii. V. 21, Episl. II. I ; so Tob. 
II. 14 inmobilis in Dei timore per- 
mansit ; cp. 7. 8 note. 

2 1 f. ' The devoted faith of the 
Saints, the unconquered hope of 
believers, the perfect love of Christ 
lead in triumph the prince of this 
world.' In a Roman triumph the 
captured leader of the enemy walked 
before the general's chariot ; Ambr. 
in Luc. X. 1 1 1 solet praecedere pompa 
uictores. For the close connexion 
with Ambr. of devotion and faith 
see 13. 22 note. The three ' theo- 
logical virtues' are combined, as 
here, i Cor. xiii. 13, Ambr. Epist. 
LXXVIII. 9 ubi perfecta caritas, ibi 
omnis fides; siciit ubi perfecta caritas, 
ibi spes omnis; 47. 18 f., 71. 17 f., 
99. I f. 

21. sanctorum] the commonest 
name of Christians in N.T., e.g. 
Rom. i. 7 ; here of course it refers 
to martyrs in particular. 

23. perfecta... caritas] 'the love 
of Christ towards them,' a phrase 
derived from r Joh. iv. 17 in hoc 
perfecta est caritas Dei nobiscum. 

24. mnndi principem] an appella- 
tion of Satan, coming from Joh. xiii. 



31, xiv. 30, xvi. 1 1 (cp. 2 Cor. iv. 4, 
Eph. ii. 2, vi. 1 2) constantly used by 
Ambr. e.g. de Abr. 11. 62, in Ps. 
CXVIII. iv. 28, ib. viii. 52, ib. xvi. 
12 ; and by Damasus vil. 2, XXX. 2, 
XLIII. 4, XLVII. 2. 

triompliat] So Ambr. in Ps. 
CXVIII. iii. 34 [Chris/us^ in se uoluit 
principem mundi falUre, in discipuUs 
triumphare. He uses the word in a 
transitive sense also de lob II. 26 
triumphauerunt populum. 

25 f. For the rhetorical repetition 
of in his see 2. 1 1 ; for in, meaning 
' in the person of,' 14. 13 note. The 
lengthening of the in (line 27) has 
no exact parallel in the hymns of 
Ambr. 

paterna gloria] 3. i . 

26. uol. Spiritus] i Cor. xii. 11. 

28. Cp. 10. 13 note, 13. 30, Lk. 
xii. 8, XV. 10. 

29 f. Biraghi compares the prayer 
de Inst. Virg. \o^ nunc cut te... Pater 
gratiae, uota conuerto. .. lo"] te quaest 
ut tuearis hancfamulam, ut...agnii 
tuis admixta uersetur comes uir- 
ginum. 

30. consortio] in this connexion 
is one of Ambr.'s favourite words ; 
cp. de Pcunit. I. 49 martyrum con- 
sortia; de Noe 26 a ngelorum... con- 
sortio; in Ps. I. 16 consortia beato- 



io8 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

iungas precantes seruulos 

in sempiterna saecula. 32 

rum ; and in the plu. de Noe 64 ius- almost always uses serutdus rather 

forum consortia. than seruus, and later writers de- 

31. seruulos] The diminutive has lighted in such forms ; see Mayor on 

a depreciatory force. But Ambr. Juv. x. 173. 

Hymns 16-18 

On the genuineness of the next three hymns, see 
above, p. 25. There seems to be no reason why Ambrose 
should not have written two hymns for the Third Hour, 
one perhaps for Sundays, and one for week days. 

The rubric to 4 in some of the Ambrosian MSS ad 
tertiam dominicis diebus shews that this was at least the 
use adopted in the Milanese church; and, if Dreves^ 
had been correct in stating that so ancient an authority 
as Vat. reg. 11 contained the rubric to 16 Hymnus ad 
tertiam. cotidianus, the suggestion would be still more 
likely ; but unfortunately that MS does not even contain 
the hymn in question. 

Steier points out a resemblance between 16 and two 
stanzas of other later hymns, viz. between stanza I and 
78 stanza IV, and between stanza II and 76 stanza IV, 
which he thinks to tell against the Ambrosian author- 
ship. But if we grant this likeness, it may but mean that 
the writers of those hymns copied Ambrose, as they did 
in so many other cases. 

The fact that Hincmar of Reims quotes 16 as Ambrose's 
carries little weight. Nor is the alleged imitation of 16. 5 
on the part of Ennodius decisive. For it is not impossible 
that the writer of 16 copied Ennodius just as the writer 
of 99 took his 8th line from him (32. 28). 

One thing is certain — that the three hymns were all 
written by the same man. I believe that this man was 

^ Aurelius Ambrosius p. 84. 



HYMN XVI. AMBROSE 



109 



Ambrose. [The prosody, the vocabulary, the concentrated 
force of the language, the thoughts, the theology, are all 
in favour of this view.] 



Hymn 16 

Abdgh EacdhjlsvxSAi Fbhls Gabd Habcdefgh/i Ibcdehimnp Vbcp 

Nunc sancte nobis Spiritus, 
unum Patri cum Filio, 
dignare promptus ingeri 
nostro refusus pectori. 

OS, lingua, mens, sensus, uigor 5 

confessionem personent, 

2 unus Eacdhjlsvx5)tt Fbhs Gbd Habcd'ef IcMehmp Vbp. patris 
EacdhvS Fb Gbd Vp. 6 confessione Ecsx Hbe Ihn Vp. personet Ab 

Echjsx/i (-nat E5) Fb Gd Hace Im^ Vcp. • 



1. The Holy Spirit is especially 
invoked at the third hour because it 
was then that He came down on the 
day of Pentecost, Acts ii. 

2. uniun] 'one essence,' 'one 
power ' as at 6. 31 ; not one person. 
Ambr. more than once quotes and 
comments upon Joh. x. 30 ego et 
Pater unum sumus. See cle Spir. 
HI. 117 repellit...Arianos, quia 
dicit : unum sumus ; tamen et in 
superioribus et in inferioribtis hae- 
reticam iugulat saeuitatem Sabellian- 
orum, quia unum dixit sumus, non 
unus ; de Incam. 77 non enim quod 
eiusdem substantiae est, unus, sed 
unum est ; nam utiqtu Filium eius- 
dem cum Patre substantiae confitentes 
in tractatu Nicaeni, twn unam per- 
sottam, sed unam diuinitatem in 
Patre et Filio crediderunt. Hincmar 
of Reims observes orans beat us Am- 
brosius Nunc sancte nobis Spiritus 
bene intellexit unum esse Deum cum 
Patre et Filio. ...de exempt euangelico 
ego et Pater unum sumus Ambro- 
sius scribit unum, ne fiat discretio 
naturcu et potestatis. 

Patzi] For the dative cp. Lucr. 



II. 918 cum...animalia sint mortali- 
bus una ecuiemque. 

3. ingeri] almost equivalent to 
infundi ; cp. CatuU. xxvii. a inger 
mi calices amariores ; de Lapsu 
Virg. 24 praecepta, quae oculis tuts 
ipse scriptus paries ingerebat', 20. 16. 

4. refusus] one of Ambr.'s fa- 
vourite words ; see 2. 22 note. 

5. ' mouth, tongue, soul , thought, 
strength.' The line emphatically 
says ' let everything that is within 
me bless His holy name.' It is hard 
to distinguish between os and lingua: 
perhaps os refers to the singing, 
lingua to the words. The other 
words are perhaps based on Lk. x. 
27 and parallels: mens answering 
to 'heart and soul,' sensus to 'mind, 
uigor to 'strength.' As to Ennod. 
Hymn. ill. 2 cor, lingua, sensus 
dignitas, see introduction. 

6. confessioiiem] Acts ii. 11 
' declaration ' of faith or thanks ; 
the usual meaning of confiteor and 
confessio in the O.T., cp. Ps. xli. 
(xlii.) 2 in twee exsultationis et con- 

fessionis; Ambr. Hex. iv. \i fidei 
confessione. For the ace. cp. 19. I3 



no 



EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 



flammescat igne caritas, 
accendat ardor proximos. 



8 



hyrimos per sonant, and 2. 3 1 te sonet, 
6. \^ te concrepet. 

7. igne] refers to the linguae 
tamquam ignis of Acts ii. 3 ; cp. 
118. 7 ignis, caritas. For caritas as 
the gift of the holy Spirit see Rom. 
V. 5, Ambr. de Spir. I. 94 offunditur 
etiani caritas Dei per Spiritum,... 



qui diuinae arbiter et fans projluus 
caritatis est. 

8. ardor has a good or bad 
meaning according to the context ; 
cp. 31. 55, 64. 6, 68. 16 with 58. 13. 

proximos is perhaps a happy ap- 
plication of Juv. III. 199 tua res, 
cum proximus ardet \ Ucalegon. 



Hymn 17 

Abdghk EacdhjvS Fbhps Gab Habcdefgh/* Macx Vabcp 

Rector potens, uerax Deus, 
qui temperas rerum uices, 
splendore mane qui instruis 
et ignibus meridiem, 



2 nice Eg Hb Vp^ 



3 splendorem E5. inserui qui. 



1. rector] Cp. 5. 1, Ambr. de 
Cain I. 4 quae tamquam operatori et 
creatori omnium Deo defert et eius 
tamquam parentis atque rectoris sub- 
dit omnia guberttacttlo. 

neraz] ' a God of truth,' who 
keepest Thy word, probably in this 
connexion referring to Gen. viii. 22. 
God is uerus, 'very God,' as op- 
posed to idols, which are no gods : 
He is uerax in that He is faithful to 
His promise and His ordinance ; 
cp. Joh. iii. 33 etc. 

2. The thought and expression 
of this line recur several times in 
Ambr. Thus Hex. iv. 2 si magnus 
est \_sol\ qui per horarum uices locis 
aut accedit aut decedit cotidie . . .; ib. 
7 est ergo in diei potestate sol et luna 
in potestate noctis, quae temporum 
uicibus oboedire conpellitur. ..namque 
luna luminis inminutionefn habet, 
mm corporis, quando per uices men- 
struas deponere uidetttr suum lu- 
men...', ib. 12 diuisa tempora habent 
paresque mensuras prro mensium 
uicibus sol et luna ; ib. 28 quid 
autem de tnnto loquar temperamento 



et moderamine conditoris? Cp. 3. 

3. mane is a substantive as at 
Verg. Georg. in. 325, Hor. Sat. i. 
iii. 18, Pers. Sat. in. i, Prud. Cath. 
I. 96, Genesis i. 4 etc., 73. 9, 73. 5, 
110. 13. 

Q,^. Hex. I. 33 lux... retectis stir- 
gentis diei splendore regionibus 7iostro 
se circumfundit aspectui ; ib. iv. 27 
(also of dawn) iam . . .micat splendor ; 
cp. 3. I. 

I write splendore mane qui in- 
struis. If the hymn is by Ambr. it 
is impossible to believe that he could 
have written such a line as splendore 
mane instruis, wherein a short un- 
accented syllable is left unelided 
before a vowel. If we insert qui, 
the structure of the hymn will be 
exactly that of 18 : the whole of the 
first stanza being taken up with the 
invocation, and the petition follow- 
ing in the next stanza. See also 
the similar commencements of 3 
and 6. 

5. fiammas litium] Cp. Ecclus. 
xxviii. II homo efiim iracundus in- 



H YMN X VIII. A MBR OSE 



III 



exstingue flammas litium, 
aufer calorem noxium, 
confer salutem corporum, 
ueramque pacem cordium. 
5 extingues Vp. 



cendit litem. The prayer is suggested 
by 'the fires of noon.' 

6. caloremj ' the heat' of passion 
(Jas iii. 6) or lust (Hos. vii. 4). 
calor, caleo can also have a good 
meaning, and this prevails in 3. 19, 
60. 10, 116. 16 ; cp. Prud. Perist. 
VI. 21. 



7. The use of the plurals cor- 
forum, cordium is according to 
Ambr.'s manner. Steier p. 643 has 
a list of instances drawn from his 
prose writings ; cp. the use of noc- 
Hum 6. 18, mentium 12. 15. Here 
they seem to be used for the sake of 
the rhyme. 



Hymn i8 

Abdghk EacdhjlsvS Fbhjpqs Gabd HabcdefghM Ibcdhmnopv Ma Vabcp 

Rerum Deus tenax uigor, 
inmotus in te permanens, 
lucis diurnae tempora 
successibus determinans, 



largire clarum uespere, 



5 



2 permanes Eh lb, permanet Ab'^ Ecdl Fs Hbd Ih. 3 diurna Ab 

Es5. 4 determinas Ab. 5 claro Ea Hacgh lo, clarus Ip. uesperi 

Ab^ Gabi Hbe Ichd Vp, uesperum E5 Hd'. 



1. ' O God who art the strength 
which sustains all creation from day 
to day.' This seems to be the sense 
here meant, rather than 'holding all 
things together in space,' ' the bond 
of the universe'; though for this 
latter sense cp. Wisdom i. 7, 36. 
41, 39. 15, 44b. 1, 48. 5. 

rerum] 'the universe,' as at 2. i. 
It is here governed by tenax, which 
takes a like gen. in Hor. Od. ill. iii. 
I tenacem propositi', Ovid J/i?/. VII. 
657 quaesiti tenax ; Verg. Aen. iv. 
188 ficti prauique tenax \ Draeger 
I. § 206. 6. 

2. The immutability of God is 
dwelt upon at Ps. ci. (cii.) 27, Mai. 
iii. 6, Jas. i. 17. It is a favourite 
thought with Augustine, as at Conf. 
J. vi. 9 aptid te rerum omnium iu- 



stabilitim stant causae et rerum 
omnium mutabilium inmtitabiles 
manent origines and the whole of 
10; cp. Prud. Apoth. i^d non con- 
uerlibilis nee demutabilis umquam \ 
est Deus. 

in te permanens comes from 
Wisdom vii. 27, which itself appears 
to be derived from Aristotle Phys. 
VIII. 5. 

3. tempora] as in 2. 3. 

4. successibus] often used as 
here in the plural by Ambr. ; cp. 
Hex. III. 48 prosperioris cursus suc- 
cessibus; in Luc. VI. 68 totius na- 
turae creator rebus stucessus dejluos 
subministrat; ib. 85. 

5. ' Grant us a bright evening 
time,' uespere being a subst. as 
mane at 17. 31. This is simpler 



112 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



quo uita nusquam decidat, 
sed praemium mortis sacrae 
perennis instet gloria. 



7 praemio Ea Fh^ Hacgh Inp Vp. 
gloriae Es Gd, gloriam Vp. 

than 'light at evening time,' though 
darum might be a quasi-subst. like 
nubila at 21. i, sereno at 36. i, 
obscurum Verg. Georg. I. 478. The 
writer seems to have in mind 
Wisdom vi. 13 clara est et quae 
numquam marcescit sapientia ; cp. 
Wisdom vii. 29 f., Zech. xiv. 7. 

6. quo] 'whereby.' 

nusquam] not numquam, i.e. 
' that life may not decay at any 
point in its activities.^ Ambr. else- 
where uses this unusual phrase, 



8 



8 perenni Ab'^ Im. instat E5. 



which is at the same time one which 
no imitator would think of taking 
up; cp. Hex. I. 11 laudent alii 
quod idea nusquam decidat terra. 
For decidat cp. Ps. Ixxxix. (xc.) 6 
uespere decidat. Wisdom iv. 19 et 
erunt post haec decidentes sine honore. 

7. mortis sacrae] as at 12. 18, 
16. II. For the thought cp. Rev. 
xiv. 1 3. praemium predicate ' as the 
reward,' cp. 10. 9. 

8. instet] ' follow hard upon it.' 



Hymn 19 

On the authorship of this hymn see above, p. 26. 
inch'ned to believe that Ambrose wrote it. 



I am 



Aabcdghk Eacdhjv/u^ Fbps Gam Habcdefghi/3 Ibghmnt Makx Vbcps 
lesu corona uirginum, 
quem mater ilia concipit, 
quae sola uirgo parturit, 
haec uota clemens accipe, 



2 concepit Aadg Ecdv/* Gam Habcde/3 Ighmt Vs. 
peperit E/t*. 4 et {pro haec) Hb Vs'. 

1. corona comes from Is. xxviii. 
5 in die ilia erit Dominus corona 
^/or/a^, whence come also the phrases 
corona confitentium, 121. 2, militum 
corona, 122. 2, corona praesuluni, 
123. 2. 

2. ilia] emphatic, as often in 
classical writers, as Verg. Aen. vil. 
no sic luppiter ille monebat. 

3. uirgo parturit] So — in spite 
of w Ps. XLVII. II eutn Maria non 
parturiuit, sed peperit, — Ambr. says 
de Inst. Virg. 39 minus erat homi- 
nem resurrexisse quam uirginem 
parturisse. 



3 quem Hb. 



5. Comes from Cant. ii. 16, vi. 
3 ; cp. Ambr. in Ps. cxviii. xiv. 3 
bona etiam Christi pascua, quipascit 
in liliis in splendore sanctorum / 
borui pascua etiatfi monies conual- 
lium, nam et in his pascitur Chris- 
tus. 

pascis, as in Hex. iv. 22, at 
de Inst. Virg. 113 quoted on 
line 9, and Fort. Vita Mart. I. 
150 pascens radicibus herbae, seems 
to be used in an intransitive sense ; 
cp. Draeger i. § 87, Schmalz 
632. 

lilia] Cp. de Inst. Virg. 93 qui 



HYMN XIX. AMBROSE 

qui pascis inter lilia 
saeptus choreis uirginum, 
sponsus decorus gloria 
sponsisque reddens praemia. 

quocumque pergis, uirgines 
secuntur atque laudibus 
post te canentes cursitant 
hymnosque dulces personant. 

te deprecamur, largius 
nostris adauge mentibus 
nescire prorsus omnia 
corruptionis uulnera. 



113 

5 



10 



15 



5 pascit Fb Vs. 7 sponsi Aa, sponsos Ga, sponsas Eac/t Fbp Hbd' 

Ibgmt Vb, sponsa Ed, sponses Ev. decorans Eadv/tt Fb Ga Hd'/3 Ibgmt 
Vbs, decoras Gm Hd*. gloriae Ha. 8 sponsi Aab^ Vs, sponsus E^ 

Vc. reddis Gm Mk, reddes Hb^, reddunt Hb^. 9 pergit Vc. 

12 insonant Mk. 14 sensibus Eju. 



Christi passionem loquuntur et suo 
ore concelebrant ac mortificaiionem 
eius in suo circutiiferunt cor pore 
Christi lilia sunt ; specialiter sacrae 
uirgines ; in Cant. vi. i Moses per 
desertum dux it populum ludaeorum 
...Christus per lilia ducit. The ap- 
plication of the lily to virginity 
perhaps goes back to Origen in 
Cant. lib. III. (Migne P.G. xiii. 
149 f.). 

6. saeptus] Cp. Verg. Aen. i. 
411, 439, 506, IX. 20, 551, 783. 

7. sponsus decorus] from Is. Ixi. 
10 sponsum decoratuni corona. For 
virgins as the brides of Christ see 
Ambr. de Virg. i. 22 spec tat e et 
aliud tiirginitatis meritum ! Christus 
uirginis sponsus ; ib. II. 29 mulieris 
caput uir, uirginis Christus ; de 
Laps. Virg. 21 quae se spopondit 
Christ et sanctum uelamen accepit, 
iam nupsit, iam inmortali iuncta 
est uiro. 

9 f. From Rev. xiv. 4 ; cp. de 
Inst, Virg. 113 ut uirgo illic agni 



sequatur uestigia et in meridiano 
pascal. 

10. laudibus... canentes] Cp. 
Stat. Theb. viii. 353 longa iacet ille 
canendus \ latide ; Fortunat. Laus 
Mariae 47 sed redeo, qua uirgo 
trahit me laude canenda. 

11. Comes from Cant. 1. j, post 
te curremus. 

12. For the ace. cp. 16. 6. 

13. deprecari usually means 'to 
pray that an evil may be averted,' 
' to deprecate ' : here that a blessing 
which is in danger of being lost may 
be granted; cp. Aulus Gellius vil. 
xvi. 3, Ronsch 358. 

largius... adauge] 'increase in our 
souls more largely,' i.e. 'grant us in 
ever larger measure,' as in the Bap- 
tismal Service, ' Increase this know- 
ledge. ..in us evermore'; cp. Lk. 
xvii. 5 adauge nobis fidem. The nor- 
mal ace. after adauge is supplied by 
the clause in 15 f. nescire... uulnera. 

15. nescire is used as at 3. 20. 

16. corruptionis uulnera] Cp. 

8 



114 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



de Laps. Virg. 1,1 amplexa es cor- 
ruptionem ; ib. 3 1 iaces ecce uulne- 
rata ; Hex. iv. 4 corruptionis sub- 
ditus seruituti ; de Noe 53 commotio 
enini uitiosa non est nisi per affectus 
corruptiontm ; in Ps. CXVIII. xix. 
41 animae corruptae. 

The thought of sin as wounding 
the soul is a very favourite one with 



Ambr. as de Bono Mortis 40 animi 
uulnera ; in Ps. xxxv. 3 \Christus'\ 
dolores uulnerum sanare consueuit ; 
XXXVII. 20 animae uulnera gra- 
uiora qtiam carnis sunt:, ib. 53 
homo enim potest uni alicui uulneri 
non patere ; ut puta iniustitiae, in- 
temperantiae, in/mdicitiae ; cp. in 
Ps. XXXVI. 3, XL. 14 etc. 



III. AURELIUS PRUDENTIUS 
CLEMENS 

The few historical facts that we know about the life 
of Prudentius are learnt from his own writings, and 
especially from the 45 lines which he prefixed to his 
collected edition of them. Born in Spain, probably at 
Saragossa, in A.D. 348, he spent a wild youth, though, as 
he came of a Christian family, his self-accusation may 
perhaps be exaggerated. After an education in rhetoric, 
followed by a course of jurisprudence, he entered upon a 
political career, in which his ability was recognised. He 
was twice set in command of a province, and was at last 
raised to some still higher post by the favour of the 
emperor, probably Theodosius, who himself also was a 
Spaniard. This high office may have been the command 
of one of the three divisions of the Palatine (or Imperial) 
Guard. 

Soon after his 50th year his ' white hair warned 
Prudentius to retire from public life and to give himself 
up to the service of God. How long he lived after this 
we have no means of knowing. In A.D. 404 or 405 he 
collected and published an edition of his poems. These 
may be divided into two chief classes, lyric and didactic. 

The former of these classes contains the book Catfu- 
merinon {KaOr^^epivSiv), a kind of daily hymn-book, 
consisting of 1 2 sacred poems for private use ; and one 
entitled Peristephandn {irepi (ne^avtav), made up of 14 
versified accounts of the death of certain martyrs. The 
poems of these two collections are written in every kind 
of metre. Their special importance for our present pur- 
pose lies in the fact that centos from them have been 

8—7 



1 16 EARLY LA TIN H YMNS 

taken to serve as hymns in the public offices of the 
church. The Mozarabic church of Spain adopted large 
portions of them ; elsewhere as a rule only a few shorter 
pieces were actually sung. 

There is one marked distinction between his hymns 
and those of Ambrose and his successors. Prudentius 
wrote without any immediate thought of their being 
sung in church, whereas Ambrose's, as we have seen, 
were composed directly for that purpose. 

The didactic poems, which, though they were less 
highly esteemed at the time, perhaps reach a higher 
poetical level, are written in hexameters, and were 
directed against the absurdities of heathen thought and 
worship (as the Psychomachia and the two Libri contra 
Symmackum), or against the false doctrines of heretical 
teachers (as the Apotheosis and the Hamartigenia). 

Prudentius is the greatest of the early Christian Latin 
poets. In the middle ages his works were a great reading- 
book in schools. Isidore of Seville, with a touch of local 
feeling, does not hesitate to rank him above the classical 
writers. 

si Maro, si Flaccus, si Naso et Persius horret, 

Lucanus si te Papiniusque tedet, 
par eat eximio dulcis Prudentius ore^ 

carminibus uariis nobilis ille satis. 

This praise of course he does not deserve ; but Bentley 
and other good authorities speak highly of him. 

We may say that, although he is not a poet of the 
highest rank, he might have been one had he lived in an 
age that would have developed his genius. 

Some of his strong points are to be seen in the follow- 
ing extracts : — his easy and graceful flow of language, 
his clear and vivid style, and his skilful control of various 



HYMN XX. PRUDENTIUS 117 

metres. His weak points are his occasional prolixity and 
monotony. He does not always know when to bring a 
story to an end, and does not realise that at times irXiov 
rjfiiav iravTo^. To give one example : while Ambrose, at 
14. 3 if., puts just six words into the mouth of Lawrence 
when on the gridiron and tells the whole story in 32 
lines, Prudentius extends his account to 584 and makes 
Lawrence in that position utter a fairly long speech 
(see p. 104). 

Hymn 20 

Cathemerinon I, from which 20 is taken, is entitled 
hy77inus ad galli canUim^ 'at cock-crow.' In its 25 stanzas 
it insists on the necessity of watchfulness and of avoid- 
ing slumber of the soul ; it dwells upon the danger of 
attacks by nightly demons, and concludes with a prayer 
for help to Christ. The order of the selected stanzas is 
in the original text I, II, XXI, xxv. As in his other hymns, 
Prudentius shews from time to time the influence of the 
hymns of Ambrose. 

The hymn was adopted into the later series (see p. xi) 
and was appointed for Mattins on Tuesdays. 

Eacdhjlsvx/i^ Fhijklnpsy Gabm Hacdefghi Icdeghimnopv Vbc 

Ales diei nuntius 

lucem propinquam praecinit, 

nos excitator mentiura 

iam Christus ad uitam uocat. 

« cecinit Vb. 

I. 'The winged messenger of day' 1. 44. Christ awakens us from the 

is of course the cock, the praeco diei death of the soul, as the cock arouses 

of 2. 5. us from our nightly slumbers, men- 

3. Excitare is used of arousing tiuni 'souls,' as at 8. 21. 
from the sleep of death, Joh. xi. ii, 



ii8 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



* auferte ' clamat ' lectulos 5 

aegros, soporos, desides ; 
castique recti ac sobrii 
uigilate ; iam sum proximus.' 

lesum ciamus uocibus 

flentes, precantes, sobrii : 10 

intenta supplicatio 

dormire cor mundum uetat. 

6 aegro Ecv Fk Gm Ideimn Vc. sopore Ecvx/it^ Fiknp%y Gbm Hghi 
Icdehimn. 7 caste recte Ejx Fks Hacdeghi Id^eg^ (casteq. recti h) m'nv 
Vc. et (pro ac) Es. sobrie Ejx Fks Gm Hacdeghi Id^eg^m^nv Vc. 
9 sciamus Ecsx/x^. 10 sobrie Ecdlvx/x^ Fikps Gbm Hadefg 

Id'%imnpv Vc. 



5. 'Away with the couches that 
are for the sick, the drowsy and the 
slothfiil.' So Verg. Georg. IV. 464 
aeger amor ; cp. 80. 7. For the other 
words cp. Aen. vi. 390 umbrarum 
hie locus est somni noctisqtu soporae. 
Stat. Theb. x. 87 desidis atria somni. 

6. The temptations against which 
vigilance especially guards us are 
lust, unjust dealing with others, ex- 
cess ; cp. Rom. xiii. 13 sicut in die 
ambulemus: non in comissationibiis 
et ebrietatibus { = sobrii), non in 
cubilibus et impudicitiis ( = casti), 
non in contentione et aemulationibus 
( = recti). 

8. uigilate] i Cor. xvi. 13, r Pet. 
V. 8. The origin of this and like 
passages is of course our Lord's 
bidding, as at Mt. xxiv. 42. Cp. the 
Rhythm of Bernard of Morlaix ^ora 
nouissima, tempora pessima sunt, 
uigilemus ; ecce minaciier imminet 
arbiter ille supremus. 

9. ciamus] ' let us summon to our 
aid'; cp. Liv. xii. i^deos ciebamus; 
Val. Flacc. iv. 549 numina nota 
ciens. The form cio, cire, found in 
Lucr. I. 212 and later writers, e.g. 
120. 6, is not so common as cieo, 
except in compounds. 

The invocation of Christ must be 
aloud {uocibus), accompanied by re- 
pentance (Jlentes), it must come from 



the heart {precantes), apart from all 
worldly excitement {sobrii). 

10. With the ancients silent prayer 
was most uncommon, as is illustrated 
by the story of Hannah, i Sam. i. 13. 
Cp. the Rule of Pythagoras, quoted 
by Clement of Alexandria Strom. IV. 
xxvi. 173, fjiiTb. (puvfjs edxeffOai, Hor. 
Epist. I. xvi. 59, Martial i. xxxix. 6. 
And for the combination of tears with 
prayers so often mentioned in these 
hymns, — 2. 28, 21. 11, 42. 46, 60. 2, 
69. 6, 73. 8, 75. 11, 86. 12,— there 
is no occasion to adopt Dressel's 
flere hie et alibi potius ingemiscere 
esse uidetur. We must remember 
the emotional character of southern 
nations and (among others) the stern 
Clearchus shedding tears before ad- 
dressing his troops, Xen. Anab. i. 
iii. 2 KoX irpGrrov fikv iddKpve iroXvv 
Xp6vov i(rr(hs. Also Ambr.'s words 
Praef. in Ps.\. \o psalmus canitur, 
et ipsa etiatn saxosa pectora molli- 
untur. uidemus flere praeduros ; 
and Augustine's {Confess, ix. 14) 
quantum fleui in hymnis et canticis 
tuis suaue sonantis ecclesiae tuae 
uocibus conmotus acriter! ib. 16 idea 
plus flebam inter cantica hymnorum 
tuorum. 

11. intenta supplicatio denotes 
the state of mind opposed to the 
uaga mens condemned in 51. n, 57. 



HYMN XXL PRUDENTIUS 119 

tu Christe somnum dissice, 
tu rumpe noctis uincula, 
tu solue peccatum uetus, 15 

nouumque lumen ingere. 
13 discute Ev li. 14 nostra (pro noctis) Ic. 

15,91. 14; cp. 82. i6f., Prad. CVzM. The somntts, tux, and lumen are 

1. 86 sensum profunda obliuio \ pres- those of the spirit. 

sit,grauauit,obruit,\uanisuagantem 14. noctlB uincula] Cp. Wisdom 

somniis. xvii. 2 utnculis tenebrarum et longae 

12. Cp. 5. 21. noctis compediti. The thought con- 

13. The line is imitated from 2. stantly recurs, as at Cath. i. 37 
30. peccata, ceu nox horrida, \ cogunt 

dissice] 'dispel.' The form affrtV- iacere ac stertere. 

f^r« is not found in early Mss ; Latin 15. peccatum uetus] Cp. 4. 10 

dislikes the coming together of «". diri ueterno criminis. 

The J could be doubled or not at 16. nouum lumen] Cp. 6. 30. 

pleasure after the Augustan period. ingere] Cp. 16. 3. 

Hymn 21 

The poem from which 21 is taken, Cathefnerinon II, 
is entitled hymnus vtatutinus and consists of 28 stanzas. 
Its central thought is the contrast between the night of 
dark deeds and the light of Christ (lines 27 f. nee teste 
quisquatn lumine \ peccare constanter potest). The poet 
prays that we may be enabled to walk as children of the 
light. Rom. xiii. 12 f. might be taken as the text. 

This hymn is a cento of lines thus arranged: 1-8, 48, 
49, 52, 57, 59, 60, 67, 68. It was introduced into the later 
series (.see p. xi) and was appointee^ for Mattins on 
Thursdays. 

Eacdhjlsv^ Fghjlpqsy Gabm Hacdefghi Ibcdghimpv Vc 

Nox et tenebrae et nubila, 

confusa mundi et turbida, 

I. Nox etc. are in the vocative. meum. As in the preceding hymn, 

nubila] 'clouds, 'strictly the neuter the nox etc. are primarily the spiritual 

pluralof««*/7Mj'cloudy,'cp. 12. 22. night etc., as the contrast with 

It is used as a subst. also by Hor. Christus in 1. 4 shews. In the 

Od. I. xxxiv. 6, and at Hamart. 89 second stanza it is otherwise. 

sunt animis etiam sua nubila; Aug. 2. confusamundi probably refers 

Conf. XI. II discindens nubilum to Gen. i. 2. 



I20 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



lux intrat, albescit polus, 
Christus uenit, discedite. 

caligo terrae ^cinditur 5 

percussa solis spicule, 
rebusque iam color redit 
uultu nitentis sideris. 

te Christe solum nouimus, 

te mente pura et simplici i6 

flendo et canendo quaesumus, 

intende nostris sensibus. 

sunt multa fucis inlita, 
quae luce purgentur tua : 

6 speculo Es Ip. 7 calor Es Hd^ Ibdghitnv. 1 1 om. et EacdM. 



3. albescit] ' grows bright ' ratlier 
than ' white ' ; cp. Verg. Aen. iv. 
586 cum primuni albescere lumen \ 
uidit. Aug. Conf. xi. 4 uses it meta- 
phorically : albescet ueritas. 

polus] Cp. 2. 10 note. 

4. discedite] a common formula, 
bidding all uninitiated or obnoxious 
persons to depart from a sacrifice ; 
cp. 26. 13, 21. 

5. The darkness is regarded as a 
substantial ' cloak ' or ' veil ' thrown 
over things (cp. Hainart. 86 aut si 
fusca poluni suffudit palla serenum), 

which is ' rent ' or ' torn ' by the rays 
of the sun. See also 27. 24. 

6. So Lucr. I. 148 non radii solis 
neque lucida tela diei ; 'll. 800 per- 
cusstts luce ; Tert. de Pudic. vii non 
lucernae spiculo lumine sed totius 
solis lancea opus est ; Prud. Haniart. 
87 radiorum spictila. 

7. Verg. Aen. vi. 272 rebus nox 
abstulit atra color em ; cp. 22. 2, 67. i f. 

8. 'Under the countenance of the 
shining star of day,' viz, the sun. 
sidus is so used in line 15, in 81. i, 
and of course in classical poetry. 

uultu stands because the sun is 
personified, cp. Verg. Georg, I. 452 
nam saepe uidanus \ ipsius in uultu 
uarios errare colores ; 36. 7. 



9. Cp. Hos. viii. 2 Deus meus 
cognouimus te ; i Cor. ii. 2, Phil, 
iii. 8 f. 

JO. te is governed by quaesumus^ 
which here as in 68. 1 7 is followed 
by the imperative {intende in 12) 
instead of its usual //^-clause as at 
15. 29, 42. 61, 68. 17. At 44. 21 
it has no following clause. 

quaesumus here stands for rogare 
...discivius in the original poem. 

11. Cp. 20. 10 note. 

flendo et canendo] This use of the 
abl. gerund taking the place of the 
pres. participle is first found Plaut. 
True. 916 ita miser cubando in lecto 
hie exspectando obdurui. Cp. Liv. 
XLV. 26 equidfvi pro patria qui letum 
oppetissent, saepe fatido auditii; Tac. 
Ann. XV. 38 incenditcm plana pri- 
mum, deinde in edita asstirgens, et 
rursus inferiora popidando, anteiit 
remedia uelocitate mali; 2. 26, 28. 20, 
31. 44, 34. 15, 36. 34 etc. The con- 
struction was very common in late 
writers and has passed into Italian ; 
cp. Ronsch 432 f., Schmalz 447 f., 
Lofstedt Aeth. i^gi. 

12. sensibus] See 2. 29, note 3. 8. 

13. fUcus was firstly a sea- weed 
found off Crete, from which a kind 
of red dye was made, then the ' dye ' 



HYMN XXII. PRUDENTIUS 



121 



tu lux eoi sideris 
uultu sereno inlumina. 



'5 



or ' paint ' itself which was at times, 
like our ' rouge,' used to cover an 
imperfection ; cp. Prud. Harnart. 
2'j^(. taedet sacrilegas mcUrum per- 
currere cur as, \ muneribus dot at a 
Dei quae plasmata ftuo \ inficitint, 
ut pigmentis cutis inlita perdat \ quod 
fuerat, falso turn agnoscenda colore. 
Ambr. de Cain i. 15 adulterina est, 
fucis inlita. Here it seems to refer 
to pretences and unrealities of all 
sorts. Cp. Ps. cxxxix. 23. 

15. 'Do thou who art light 
illuminate us with the bright face of 
the rising star.' lux is found in all 
hymnals for rex of the original, per- 
haps adopted from 2. 29. In the 



same way at 22. i lux aurea is sub- 
stituted for Prud. 's sol aureus. 

eoi sideris] i.e. the sun, as in 
line 8 ; cp. Verg. Georg. i. 288 aut 
cum sole rwuo terras inrorat eous. 
Servius there notes Cinna in Smyrna 
sic ait : te matrinionium flentem con- 
spexit eous, et Jlentem paulo uidit 
post Hesperus idem. So Sil. Punic. 
IX. 180 conscia nox sceleris roseo 
cedehat eoo; ib. xi. 518 lucem sur- 
gentis eoi; Sedul. Carm. V. 191 
splendidus. . .fulget eous. In all these 
passages eous means ' the rising sun,' 
' the dawn. ' 

1 6. uultu as in 8 ; sereno ' bright ' 
as in 10. 2. 



Hymn 22 

This hymn also comes from. Cathemerinon II, answering 
to lines 25, 93, 94, 96-108. It was adopted in the later 
series and appointed for Mattins on Fridays. 

Eacdhjlsv/x^ Fghinpsx7 Gabm Hacdefghi Ibcdeghmnopv Vbct 

Lux ecce surgit aurea, 
pallens facessat caecitas, 
quae nosmet in praeceps diu 
errore traxit deuio. 

2 fatescat Ecdsvx Gm Hacd Ihp, facescat E/i Fin Ig, fatescit El, facessat 
Fhpx Gab Hh Vt. 4 deuios E/t Vb. 



I. 'The golden light,' probably 
means ' daylight,' which demands 
spiritual correspondence. The diffi- 
culty of fixing the exact signification 
of the words is a result of bringing 
together lines from different parts of 
the original poem. In Prud. the 
sol aureus is certainly the natural 
sun, but te Christe solum nouimus 
and the rest has intervened, so that 
kaec lux in 5 is plain. Here a refer- 
ence to the time of day seems to be 



required to start with, the meaning 
of hcuc lux being gathered from the 
three preceding lines. 

2 . pallens] ' colourless ' as at 46. 5 , 
Prud. Calh. IX. 78 (of the darkness 
at the Crucifixion) tristia squalentis 
aethrae palluerunt sidera, cp. 21. 7, 
67. I, 120. 10. Here it takes the 
place of tatidem in the original. 

facessat] 'depart.' So Liv. i. 47 
J'acesse hinc ; Ambr. Hex. III. 27 
facessat uana opinio ; Prud. Apoth. 



122 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



haec lux serenum conferat 
purosque nos praestet sibi : 
nihil loquamur subdolum, 
uoluamus obscurum nihil. 

sic tota decurrat dies, 
ne lingua mendax, ne manus 
oculiue peccent lubrici, 
ne noxa corpus inquinet. 

speculator adstat desuper, 
qui nos diebus omnibus 
actusque nostros prospicit 
a luce prima in uesperum. 



lO 



15 



10 nee (pro ne primo) Esv/a Gm Hacde^f Icgmn Vb. nee {pro ne sec.) 
Eaedhjsv/i0 Gm Hacde^ Icdgnv Vbc. 1 1 ne (pro -ue) Ev^<^ HaM'e 

Icdm, nee Ecs Fn Gm Ha^cd^f Igv Vbc. 12 nee He lev. 

13 spectator Ea. 



659. The variant fatiscat would 
mean 'fail,' 'give way, 'as at 26. 25. 

The same difficulty of determining 
the reading presents itself in the 
original poem. Dressel there reads 
facessat. 

5. haec lux means Christ — the 
opposite of the /. caecitas. 

serenum] 'fair weather'; as in 
classical Latin, and at Juvenc. ill. 
226 adueniet uentura luce serenum, 
36. 1 ; see note on 10. 2. Jlere, of 
course, it is used metaphorically. 

8. uoluamus] 'turn over' in our 
minds; ep. Lucr. vi. 34 tioluere 
curarum tristes in pectore fluctus ; 
Verg. Aen. i. 7ps^ per noctem plurima 
uoluens; Niceta de Symbolo 14 haec 
salutaris confessio uoluatur in pec- 
toribus uestris. 

obscurum niliil] ' nodark thought,' 
cp. 67. II, 86. 2. 

9. sic is answered by «<? in 10 : 
' in such a way that the tongue may 
not sin by lying, nor the hand or 
the eyes by sliding, that guilt may 
not defile the body.' 

sic is often used in wishes and 
prayers. Thus Hor. Od. I. iii. i f. 



sic te diua patens Cyprt, | sic/ratres 
Helenae, lucida sidera, \ tuntorum- 
que regat pater; where Page notes : 
'jjV="so" i.e. "on that condition" 
. . . ep. our similar use of " so help you 
God " in administering oaths : the 
Latins, however, throw the clauses 
with sic forward, instead of keeping 
them to the end.' Cp. Verg. Eel. 
IX, 30 sic tua Cymeas fugiant ex- 
a fn ina taxos . . . incipe. 

decurrat] 'run to its close, ^ as at 
106. 5. 

10. Note the emphasis put on 
the adjs mendax and lubrici. lubrici 
is here taken in its literal sense 
'easily moving'; cp. also the note 
on 3. 12. 

12. noxa] 'guilt' cp. 64. 14; 
Gaius Digest L. xvi. 238 noxae ap- 
pellatione omne delictum continetur. 
We have had the adj. noxius 1. 39, 
17. 6 meaning 'guilty,' and it is often 
used in later hymns. But noxialis 
of 23. ir, 33. 5 bears the stronger 
sense ' baleful.' The ne may be taken 
either as parallel with the two fore- 
going, or as dependent upon ne pec- 
cent, cp. James iii. 6. 



HYMN XXIII. PRUDENTIUS 123 

13. apectilator] 'watchman, 'used iuUitia ditiina... quasi speculairix 

in its literal meaning 2 Sam. xviii. pia. Arnob. adu. Nationts iv. 33 

26, 2 Kings ix. 20 etc. For its use speculator tlle...betu meritorum ac 

of God's all-seeing eye, cp. Minuc. pessime. The general thought could 

Felix Octauius xxxil. 9 quanta be illustrated by numberless passages; 

magis Deus,auctor omnium ac specu- cp. 48. 4, 93. 5; Commodian Apol. 

lalor omnium, a quo nullum potest 127 quique tettet caelum, prospicit 

esse secretum,... interest... cogitationi- ubique de cculo \ et penetrcU totum 

bus nostris; Ambr. in Ps. xxxv. 25 oculis et auribus audit. 

Hymn 23 

Cathemerinon IX, from which 23 is a cento, is entitled 
hymnus omnis horae. At every hour of every day should 
a believer be mindful of Christ, who is the A and H, the 
beginning and the end. Prudentius therefore praises Him 
as the creator of all things, as the everlasting Son of the 
Father's love begotten. He then briefly but graphically 
relates the chief wonders of His earthly life, in order to 
shew to all men commtnus Deum docendis proditum mor- 
talibus (line 9). 

The uses of different churches selected from the poem 
various stanzas to form a Christmas hymn. The eight 
here given are those of the Hereford breviary, and in the 
original are the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 36th and 37th. 
The Mozarabic use on the other hand was to sing the 
first 35 stanzas on Easter Day and during the octave, 
36-38 post ascensionem Domini. 

Ehx^ Hdefgh Ih Mi Vs 

Corde natus ex parentis ante mundi exordium, 
alpha et w cognominatus, ipse fons et clausula 

2 A {pro alpha) Hh. 

1. corde... parentis] Col. i. 13. Carm. in. 2S-jf.Auftc esse per orbem\ 
Cp. 1. 3 (which Prud. may have principintn ac finem, hunt o uide- 
had in mind) ; Prud. Apoth. (init.) rier, hum u. These letters, the first 
corde Patris genita est sapientia, and last of the Greek alphabet, 
Filius ipse est. denote ' the beginning and the 

2. alpha et w] Rev. i. 8, 1 1, end,' as is further expressed by 
xxi. 6, xxii. 13, 107. 21, Sedul. yi>«x^/^/a«J^«/a, representing //-//«■»- 



124 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



omnium, quae sunt, fuerunt, quaeque post futura sunt, 
saeculorum saeculis. 

ipse iussit et creata, dixit ipse, et facta sunt 
terra, caelum, fossa ponti, trina rerum machina, 
quaeque in his uigent sub alto solis et lunae globo, 
saeculorum saeculis. 

corporis formam caduci, membra morti obnoxia 
induit, ne gens periret primoplasti ex germine, 
merserat quem lex profundo noxialis tartaro, 
saeculorum saeculis. 



pium et clausula of Rev. i. 8. Our 
name omega is a modern invention 
which Prudentius knew not. 

4. saeculorum saeculis] the re- 
frain after each stanza, is not, as 
such, in the original, but was in- 
serted from the last line of the 
whole ^oem, omnibus te concelebrent 
saeculorum saeculis, when the cento 
came into use as a hymn. 

5. iussit] Ps. cxlviii. 5. The 
ipse is Christ catching up the ipse of 
line 1 ; cp. Hamart. 338 Christus 
cum conderet orbem; Perist. II. 413 f. 
O Ckriste nomen unicum, ...o factor 
orbis et poli \ ib. X. 468 f. Christus 
paternae gloriae splendor, Deus \ 
rerum creator, 1. 8 note. 

6. For this threefold enumera- 
tion of the elements of the universe 
cp. Ps. cxlv. (cxlvi.) 6 qui fecit cae- 
lum et terram, mare, et omnia qtiae 
in eis sunt, from Exodus xx. 11. 

fossa ponti] 'the hollow of the 
sea,' cp. Lucr. v. 483 salso suffodit 
gurgite fossas. 

trina rerum machina] ' the three- 
fold fabric of the world,' from Lucr. 
V. 96 machina mundi. The phrase 
recurs at 113. 9, Fort. III. vi. 52 
et Trinitatis opem machina trina 
sonet; cp. 39. 3, 69. 2, Hamart. 
247 mundana laborat mcuhina. 

7. Prud. is perhaps thinking of 
Lucr. V. 471 f. hunc exordia sunt 
solis lunaeqw secuta, \ interutraque 
globi quorum uertuntur in auris. 



9. formam] as at Phil. ii. 7 for' 
mam serui cucipiens. 

caduci] ' frail,' cp. 29. 21, 94. 26, 
Hilary Hymn. II. 25 tton estcaducjim 
corpus istud, quod tenes. 

obnoxia] 'subject to'; cp. Apoth. 
1043 mortique obnoxia cessit; Symm, 
II. 1 06 1 horrea nocturno non iim- 
quam obnoxia furi; Verg. Georg. 
II. 439 non ulli obnoxia curae. The 
phrase fuembra morti obnoxia recurs 
at Perist. V. 155. 

10. primoplasti] ' the first made 
tiian,' i.e. Adam. The word is half 
Latin, half Greek. So Commod. 
Instr. XXXV. I has protolapsus. 
The more correct protoplastus is 
found at 33. 4, 40. 3, 112. 16, Wis- 
dom vii. I (Vulgate). The words 
plasma (37. 20, 94. 26), plasmare 
(42. 6, 14), plasmator (78. i) also 
come in these hymns. 

Note the adverbial phr. ex ger- 
mine qualifying gens like an ad- 
jective. 

11. ' which the law of death had 
overwhelmed in the depths of hell.' 
noxialis, 'baleful,' invented, as it 
seems, by Prud. ; cp. Perist. X. 1 107 
noxialis carceris ; 33. 5 ; see 22. 1 2 
note. 

tartaro] the infernal regions in 
the old heathen mytholc^, adopted 
by Christian writers to denote 'hell,' 
or 'the powers of hell.' So at 31. 
87, 32. 6, 34. 24, 36. 17 etc. 



HYMN XX TIL PRUDENTIUS 



125 



o beatus ortus ille, uirgo cum puerpera 
edidit nostram salutem feta sancto Spiritu, 
et puer, redemptor orbis, os sacratum protulit, 
saeculorum saeculis. 

psallat altitudo caeli, psallant omnes angeli, 
quidquid est uirtutis usquam psallat in laudem Dei : 
nulla knguarum silescat, uox et omnis consonet, 
saeculorum saeculis. 

ecce quern uates uetustis concinebant saeculis, 
quem prophetarum fideles paginae spoponderant, 
emicat promissus olim : cuncta conlaudent eum 
saeculorum saeculis. 



15 



13 partus Ex^ Hf Ih. 
hanc sacrando piauit Vs. 
21 quam Mi. uetusti Ih. 



1 4 plena {pro feta) Vs. 
x8 laude E^ Hfg. 
23 collaudant Hdf. 



15 ut Hdf. orbem 
19 sed {pro et) Vs. 
deum Mi. 



13. uirgo... puerpera] in sharp 
contrast as at 1. 13 and often. Prud. 
lays stress upon the Virgin-birth, 
Apoth. 436 etc. 

14. salutem] personified, as at 38. 
29 iam nata lux est et sahts ; cp. 
36. 27, 87. 16. 

feta... Spiritu] Lk. i. 35, 6. 10. 

17. psallant] Imitated from Ps. 
cxlviii. I. This is the reading of 
practically all the hymnals. It goes 
better with psallat before and after 
than psallite, which is, no doubt, 
the original text. But from a metri- 
cal point of view psallant is not so 
good, as it brings a spondee into 
the I St foot of the 2nd part of the 
line, which Prud. never admits. 

psallere {ip6.Wuv) is strictly to 
sing to the accompaniment of a 
stringed instrument, but this mean- 
ing is not to be pressed here or at 
43. 5, 51. 2, 54. 4 etc. 

18. 'Let every power, wherever 
it be, sing to the praise of God ' ; 
cp. Ps. cxlviii. 2 laudate eum omnes 
uirtutes eius. 

19. nulla lingtiarum] Late Latin 
extended the use of the partitive 
gen. ; cp. Tac. Germ. 43 nulla has- 



tium\ Draeger i. 421, Schmalz 
365. silescat would strictly mean 
* leave off singing,' but probably 
Prud. intended it to he = s^eat. 

21. Cp. Apoth. 605 f. estne Deus 
iam noster homo? uersatur et ad- 
stat I nobiscum nomenque probat 
uersumque tutustis \ obscurum saeclts 
praesenti inluminat ore. 

We have had the phrase uelusta 
saecla 12. 29. uates, the bards or 
singers such as David and the pro- 
phets, cp. 14. 6 note, concinebant 
' sang with one accord,' cp. Acts x. 

43- 

22. fideles] 'faithful to the truth,' 
' truthful,' as at 34. 14. 

paginae] ' prophecies ' ; cp. Pro- 
pert. IV. XXV. 17 has tibi fatalis 
cecinit mea pagina diras\ Prud. 
Apoth. \oT falsiloqua est diuini pa- 
gina libri. 

spoponderant put into the plu- 
perfect to denote that the promise 
was of ancient standing, or it may 
be because the Incarnation, though 
spoken of in the present, was already 
a historical event of the past. So 
41. 15 atisus erat, 95. 10 uiderat, 
96. 4 sanxeras. 



126 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



macte iudex mortuorum, macte rex uiuentium, 25 

dexter in parentis arce qui cluis uirtutibus, 
omnium uenturus inde iustus ultor criminum, 
saeculorum saeculis. 

te senes et te iuuentus, paruulorum te chorus, 
turba matrum uirginumque, simplices puellulae, , 30 

uoce Concordes pudicis perstrepant concentibus 
saeculorum saeculis. 

31 perstrepunt Hgh. 



25. macte] Originally 'mighty 
one,' the vocative of a participle 
answering to the adj . magnus. At first 
confined to the language of religion, 
it came to be used in the sense of 
' well-done.' The idea here is much 
like that of Ps. xliv. (xlv.) 5 ' Good 
luck have thou with thine honour.' 

26. dexter] 'on His right hand,' 
cp. 4. 32. 

in parentis arce] Prud. often 
uses arx thus, as Perist. 11. 272 in 
arce lucebunt Patris ; and Fortu- 
natus has taken up the phrase, cp. 
33. 1 1. 

duis] ' excellest.' Prud. uses this 
word again of Christ Psych. 2 qui 
patria uirtute cluis \ and twice of 
Rome c. Symin. i. 417 praediuite 
cultu I inlustrata cluis ; ib. il. 
583 f. uis dicam...quis gloria fotibus 



aucta I sic cluat, inpositis ut mun- 
dum frenet habenis ? cp. Cafk. IV. . 
37 tuaprcucluenspotestas. In earlier 
Latin the more usual form of the 
word was clueo cluere. Plautus uses 
that word absolutely, as here, with 
an ablative of the distinguishing 
feature. 

29. te is governed by /^rj^^r^/aw/, 
which is elsewhere used of confused 
shouting ; cp. the use of personare 
16. 6. The stanza is an amplification 
of Ps. cxlviii. 12. 

Many hymnals add in full a doxo- 
logy : Tibi Christe sit cum Patre 
hagioque Pneumate (or Spiritu) 
hymnus, decus (or ntelos), laus peren- 
nis, gratiarum actio, honor, uirtus, 
uictoria, regmim aetemaliier, sae- 
culorttm saeculis. This of course 
was not written by Prud. 



Hymn 24 

This beautiful hymn is patched together from Prud.'s' 
hymnus epiphaniae, Cath. XII, and has gained by its ab- 
breviation. The lines selected are in the original 125- 
128, 134, 129, 130, 132, 93, 94, 97, 99, loi, 102, 107-112, 
117, 114, 113, 115, 133, 137, 138, 136. 



HYMN XXIV, PRUDENTIUS 



127 



Ex^fr Fs Habcdefy Ichn Vcs 

Saluete floras martyrum, 
quos lucis ipso in limine 
Christi insecutor sustulit, 
ut turbo florentes rosas. 

quid crimen Herodem iuuat ? 
uos, prima Christi uictima, 
grex inmolatorum tener, 
palma et coronis luditis. 



audit tyrannus anxius 
adesse regum principem ; 

1 om. in Ex0 Ich Vc. lumine Ex, limite Fs Vs. 



1 . ' Hafl flowers of the martyr 
band,' martyrum being partitive 
gen. Cp. [Aug.] Serm. ccxx iure 
dkuntur martyrum Jlores, quos in 
medio frigore infidelitatis exortos 
uelut primas erumpentes ecdesiae 
gemmas quaedampersecutionispruina 
decoxit. 

2. ' Whom on the very threshold 
of the light of life ' ; an echo of 
Verg. Aen. vi. 426 continue auditae 
uoces, uagitus et ingens, \ infantum- 
que animae Jlentes in limitie primo, \ 
quos dulcis uitae exsortes etc. ; cp. 
Lucan II. 106 nee prima in limine 
uitae I infantis miseri nascentia 
rumpere fata. 

4. The original of Prud. ceu 
turbo nascentes rosas might well 
have been retained. Cp. Stat. Silu. 
III. 126 f. media cecidere abrupta iu- 
uenta \ gaudia, florentesque manu 
scidit Atropos annos, \ qualia pal- 
lentes declinant lilia culmos \ pu- 
bentesque rosae prinios moriuntur in 
annos; Verg. Aen. xi. 68 f. qualem 
uirgineo demessum pollice florem \ 
seu mollis uiolae seu langtuntis 
hyaeinthi. 

6 f. uictima and grex are in ap- 
position with uos. uictima is a col- 
lective singular as at 31. 40. 

7 . inmolare meant ( i ) to sprinkle 



10 

8 corona Hb'cd^. 

with sacrificial meal {mola salsa), 
hence (2) 'to sacrifice,' as here and 
at 33. 3, 18, 34. 8, 107. 11. 

8. The palm and crown were the 
tokens of victory among the Greeks 
and Romans; cp. Liv. x. 47 eodem 
anno [B.C. 293] coronati, primum ob 
res bello bene gestas, . . .palmcuque turn 
primum translato e Graecia more 
uictoribus dalae. Hence both were 
adopted by Christians as signs of 
the martyrs' triumph. Palms are 
thus spoken of Rev. vii. 9 (though 
with Hebrew associations) and 
crowns (in a rather different con- 
text), ib. IV. 4. So Cypr. de Bono 
Pat. 7 qui martyras floribus coro- 
not aetemis,...qui palmas ueras 
uincentibus tribuit; 49. 43. Cle- 
ment quotes Paulinus of Nola (of 
Celsus who died as an infant) aui 
cum Bethlaeis infantibus in Para- 
diso, I quos malus Herodes perculit 
inuidia, \ inter odoratum ludit ne- 
mus, atque coronas | texit honoran- 
dis praemia martyribus. 

10. Actsv. 31, Rev. i. i prirueps 
regum terrae. So in Prud. Christ is 
entitled rex {Cath. XI. 100, Xll. 41, 
Psych. 97J, rex aeternus (Apoth. 
222), rex uiuentium {Cath. IX. 
106 = 23. 25). 



128 



EARL Y LA TIN HYMNS 



11 arripe E^ Fs« Hcef Ih Vs*. 
Fs Hbcdef Ihn Vcs. 

1 1 . amens n.] ' mad with rage at 
the message,' 16. i6 note. 

12. satelles] 'guardsman,' an 
officer attached to the personal ser- 
vice of a prince. The original of 
Prud. is here more graphic, if some- 
what spun out : exclamat amens 
nuntio: \ successor instat, pellimur! \ 
satelles, i, ferrum rape! \ perfunde 
ctinas sanguine! 

14. ' Search the laps of the nurs- 
ing mothers.' 

16. indolis] 'sex'; lit. 'quality' 
usually of character or disposition. 

18. 'with drawn sword,' mucro 
is strictly the point, but Verg. Aen. 
II. 449 has strictis mticronibus. All 
MSS read districto, which would be 
meaningless. On such a point their 
evidence is of little worth. 

19. effasa] ' born,' cf. Juvenc. i. 
105 iussum fundere par turn ; Prud. 
Cath. VII. 59 nee ante partu de 
senili effusus est ; 39. 20, Verg. Aen. 



exclamat amens nuntio : 
'ferrum, satelles, corripe; 

mas omnis infans occidat, 
scrutare nutricum sinus, 
fraus ne qua furtim subtrahat 
prolem uirilis indolis.' 

transfigit ergo carnifex 
mucrone destricto furens 
effusa nuper corpora 
animasque rimatur nouas. 

o barbarum spectaculum! 
uix interemptor inuenit 
locum minutis artubus 
quo plaga descendat patens- 
quid proficit tantum nefas ? 
inter coaeui sanguinis 

24 descendit Vs. 



15 



20 



25 



25 profuit Ex^ 



VIII. 139 que7n Candida Maia \ Cyl- 
lenae gelido conceptum uertice fudit ; 
where Servius says that the word 
implies an easy labour ; Ambr. Hex. 
v. 30 mulieres solae partus suos in- 
clementer effundunt. 

20. ' and searches out (sc. by 
piercing the body) the young lives.' 
rimari is used at 86. ro of God 
searching the heart, by Verg. Georg. 
I. 384 of birds groping in the mea- 
dows for food, and Aen. vi. 599 of 
the vulture digging into Tityos' en- 
trails. 

21 f. This passage is imitated 
from Ambr. de Virg. i. 7 (of 
Agnes) ftiitne in illo corpusculo 
uulneri locus. 

24. descendat] the regular word 
for a blow 'falling,' cp. Liv. I. 41 
ferru7n...in corpus descendisse; Ov. 
Met. III. 67; Lucan Vl. 216; Dra- 
cont. Delib. 184 descendit hiatu 
hasta patens. 



H YMN XX V. PR UDENTIUS 1 29 

fluenta solus integer 
inpune Christus tollitur. 

sit Trinitati gloria, 

uirtus, honor, uictoria, 30 

quae dat coronam testibus 

per saeculorum saecula. 

27. fluenta] See the note on 1. all mss that contain the hymn, but 

17- it was not written by Prud. 

integer] 'unscathed,' cp. 1. 51 31. testibus] i.e. 'to martyrs.' 

note. For the martyr's crown cp. 14. 3 

29 f. This doxology is found in note. 

Hymn 25 

These are the first two (out of 44) stanzas of Prud.'s 
hymnus ieiimantium, Cathemerinon vil. The former 
stanza contains a prayer to Christ that He may regard 
with favour this fast, which is an offering to Him ; the 
second enumerates some of the benefits to be gained by 
fasting. The hymn thus formed had no wide use, as 
is shown by the few old MSS in which it is found, viz, 
British Museum 37517 probably from Canterbury, and 
Bern 455 from St John at Laon. But it is mentioned by 
Radulph de Canonum Obseruantia (quoted by Daniel IV. 
207) de qiiadragesima sunt hyinni Audi benigne: ad noc- 
turnos. Ex more : in laudibus, O Nazarene. The poem as 
a whole was in the Mozarabic Church sung at the third, 
sixth and ninth hours during Lent, from 10 to 20 lines 
at each service. 

Eh Makx 

O Nazarene, lux Bethlem, Verbum Patris, 

quern partus alui uirginalis protulit, 

adesto castis, Christe, parsimoniis, 

I dux Mk. 

I. Most of the liturgical mss uerbum Patris] Joh. I. i, cp. 1. 3. 

change Pnid.'s lux into dux^ which 2. partus] active, 'child-bearing, 

comes from Mt. ii. 6. 3. parsimoniis] 'fast,' as at 96. 



w. 



ISO 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



festumque nostrum rex serenus adspice, 
ieiuniorum dum litamus uictimam. 

nil hoc profecto purius mysterio, 
quo fibra cordis expiatur uiiidi, 
intemperata quo domantur uiscera, 
aruina putrem ne resudans crapulam 
obstrangulatae mentis ingenium premat. 



14, 96. 6, 110. 19. The word is used 
by classical writers, but not in this 
sense. 

4. festum] Cp. George Herbert's 
' welcome dear feast of Lent.' 

serenus is not nom. for voc, but 
is to be taken closely with adspice, 
'look brightly upon.' 

5. ieiuniorum... uictimam] The 
fast is an offering to Christ ; cp. 96. 
18, 110. 1 7. liiare, ' offer a successful 
sacrifice,' usually intransitive with 
abl. of the offering (like sacrijicare, 
facere etc), but it occurs in classical 
poetry, as here, with an accus. , — e.g. 
Ovid Fasti w. 630 has sacra litate. 

uictimam] Cp. Rom. xii. i, Phil, 
iv. 18, Hebr. xiii. 15. Possibly the 
word has here the same collective 
meaning as in 24. 6. 

6. purius] 'more cleansing,' cp. 
Tibull. I. V. II ipseque te circum 
lustraui sulpure puro. 

7. fibra cordis] ' the heart strings, ' 
for the heart itself. So Pers. i. 47 
neque enim mihi cornea fibra est ; 
Saluian. de Gub. Dei in. 37 letaliter 
crescentibus fibris. Fibra, uiscera, 
aruiva are chosen as being the parts 
chiefly offered in sacrifice. 



expiatur] is cleansed by atonement 
made. The sin offering was a piacu- 
luni, cp. 96. 17, 62. 11, and also 67. 
5, 98. 8. 

uuidi] lit. ' wet ' (being akin to 
uinor, vypos) probably here means 
'drunken,' 'debauched,' as Hor. Od. 
11. xix. 18 uses it, like the Greek 
^e^pey/jL^vos. 

8. uiscera] ' the body,' 'the flesh'; 
see 16. 17 note, and for the general 
sense cp. i Cor. ix. 27. 

9. aruina] strictly the hard fat 
between the skin and the body, 
hence ' fat ' in general ; cp. Ambr. 
in Ps. xxxvili. 34 deponat . . .pingue- 
dinem quandam carnalis aruinae. 

resudans] Cp. Apoth. 719 crudns 
conuiua resudat \ congeriem uentris ; 
Cath. X. 107 sua tunc tormenta re- 
sudans. 

crapulam] originally, like K/)at- 
irdXr), the headache after drinking, 
but often the debauch itself; cp. 103. 
17, 116. 27. 

10. obstrangulatae] invented as 
it seems by Prud. ; cp. Pcrist. i. 99 
\daeinones'\ strangulant mattes et 
ipsas seque miscent sensibus. 



Hymn 26 

This hymn consists of the last 7 of the 38 stanzas 
of Prud.'s hymnus ante somnum, Cathemerinon VI. 
Radulph (Daniel IV. 207) notes as to its use: de passione 
...ad contpletorium, Ctdtor Dei. Blume {Analecta XXVII. 
37) gives its Mozarabic use also ad complet. 



HYMN XXVI. PRUDENTIUS 



131 



Ehl Fst Gfi Macx 
Cultor Dei, memento 
te fontis et lauacri 
rorem subisse sanctum, 
te chrismate innotatum. 

fac, cum uocante somno 
castum petis cubile, 
frontem locumque cordis 
crucis figura signet. 

crux pellit omne crimen, 
fugiunt crucem tenebrae : 



10 



3 rore sub ipso sacrato chrismate Fs. 
6 peti Fs^. 8 signa Fs. 



4 innouatum El Fst. 



2. fontis et lauacri] ' the cleansing 
stream,' hendiadys. Our use of the 
'font' makes it easy to forget that 
in early times baptism was by im- 
mersion, and if possible in running 
water, lauacri, water for cleansing ; 
it is so used also at 31. 41, 37. 22, 
91. 24. It is, no doubt, a remini- 
scence of Tit. iii. 5 per I. regenera- 
tionis et renouationis. 

4. chrismate] the sacred oil with 
which the newly baptized were 
anointed ; see Tertullian de Bapt. 7, 
and cp.27. 32, 37. 1 2,40. 3 1 , 106. 7, 10. 
This sacramental symbol was at first 
composed of pure olive oil, but from 
the V I th century on wards balsam was 
added to it. In early times no day 
was fixed for blessing the chrisnia, 
but since the Vth century this cere- 
mony has been performed at the 
second mass on Maundy Thursday, 
which was hence called missa chris- 
matis. For some time all the clergy 
of a diocese had to attend and take 
the chrism away with them, but this 
rule was afterwards relaxed. 

innotatum] 'marked,' not found 
elsewhere. The variant innouatum 
is found in mss both of the hymn 
and of the original text, and is a 
natural conjecture with reference to 
baptismal regeneration. 



5 f. See that you make the sign 
imprinted on you at that time. The 
cross on which Christ was sacrificed 
was from the earliest times held in 
high honour (cp. i Cor. i. 18, 24, 
Gal. vi. 14; Chrysost. Horn, lv in 
Matth., Aug. Serm. xii de sanct., 
John of Damascus De Orthod. Fide 
IV. 17 etc.) ; so much so that Chris- 
tians were accused of worshipping 
it. With the cross they signed them- 
selves ; cp. Tert. de Coron. Milit. in. 
Cypr. de Orat. Dotn. ix, Lactant. 
Div. Inst. IV. xxiii. 3 cum diis suis 
immolant,siadsistataliquissignatam 
frontem gerens, sacra nullo tnodo 
litatit ; Cyril of Jerusalem Catech. 
IV. 14, xiir. 36; Fort. ix. xiv. 7f., 
X. vi. 121 f. 42. 35, 103. 9f. See also 
the references given by the com- 
mentators on this passage of Prud. 

7. frontem... cordis] Cp. Ambr. 
de Is. et An.li signaculum Christ us 
in fronte est, signcuulum in corde ; 
infronte, ut semper confiteamur ; in 
corde, ut semper diligamus. Alcuin 
Carm. cxxi. 41 f. muniat frontem, 
loca siue cordis... crucis et tropaeum 
daemonuin uafros abigat meandros 
membra, quae casta dabimus cubili. 

9. crimen] ' guilt,' see 1. 35 note. 

10. tenebrae] spiritual darkness 
and the powers of darkness. 

9-3 



132 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



tali dicata signo 
mens fluctuare nescit. 
procul, o procul, uagantum 
portenta somniorum ! 
procul esto peruicaci 
praestigiator astu ! 
o tortuose serpens, 
qui mille per meandros 
fraudesque flexuosas 
agitas quieta corda, 
discede, Christus hie est, 
hie Christus est, liquesce ! 



15 



13 otn. o El. 



20 agitat Ft. 



21-24 0^' Fs. 



1 1 . dicata] ' hallowed,' as at 96. 4. 
mens ' soul ' as at 2. 30. 

12. fluctuare 'waver'; cp. Verg. 
Aen. X. 680 attitno nuttc hue nunc 

Jluctuat illuc ; Catull. LXIV. 62 
magnis curanim Jluctuat undis ; 
Ambr. de Noe 41 corporis nostri 
terrena substantia ...Jluctuat pas- 
sionibus; Prud. Hamart. 11% mens 

Jragilisfac Hi ti itiorutnjluctua taestu; 
87. 27, and see also 9. 7. 
nescit] Cp. 3. 20 note. . 

1 3. procul] an echo of Verg. Aen. 
VI. 258 procul procul este projani ; 
cp. 21. 4 discedite (note). 

uagantum] Cp. 2. II. Notice the 
alliteration running through the 
stanza. For the power of the cross 
in banishing evil spirits, see Lact. 
de Mort. Pers, 10, Ath. de Incarn. 48. 

15. 'Avaunt thou deceiver of per- 
sistent cunning ! ' 

praestigiator] 'juggler,' 'cheat,' 
used by Plautus, but then not until 
the silver age. 

astu] used only in the abl., except 
in some late writers. 

17. tortuose] 'writhing,' 'wrig- 
gling,' in allusion to the serpent's 
motion; cp. Verg. Aen. v. 275 
tteguigua?n longos Jugiens dat cor- 
pore tortus : but with a further 
sinister meaning. 



18. By countless winding ways 
and evil twists, mil/e as at Hor. 
Od. III. vii. 12 tempt at mille uajer 
jHodis. 

meandros] from the river Maeander 
in Caria, which had a proverbially 
winding course; cp. Plin. Hist. v. 29 
ita sinuosis Jlexibus, ut saepe credatur 
reuerti; Ov. Alet. viii. 162 noji sec us 
ac liquidus Phrygiis Maeandros in 
aruis \ ludit et ambiguo lapsu rejluit- 
que Jluitque ; \ occurretisque sibi uen- 
turas aspicitundas, \ et nunc oAf antes., 
nunc in mare tiersus apertum \ incer- 
tas exercet aquas . Hence Verg. ^^w. 
V. 251 duplici maeandro 'a double 
wavy-line'; and of evil twists Cic. 
in Pison. 53 quos tu maeandros, quae 
deuerticula Jluxionesque quaesisti? 
Aul. Gell. Noct. XVI. viii. 17 ne...in 
Hits dialecticae gyris atque maean- 
dris, tamquam apud sirenios scopulos, 
consenescas. Alcuin Carm. cxxi. 
41 f. quoted above on 7. Prud. for 
metrical purposes writes meandros, 
as also enigma Apotk. 331, heresis 
Psych. 710, sph^ra Apoth. 210. His 
doing so is facilitated by the occa- 
sional spelling of the word : a coin 
is extant with the legend ANTIO- 
XeCON MeANAPOC. But in 
Greek a diphthong is often shortened 
before a succeeding vowel. 



HYMN XXVII. PRUDENTIUS 133 

signum quod ipse nosti 
damnat tuam cateruam. 
corpus licet fatiscens 25 

iaceat recline paulum, 
Christum tamen sub ipso 
meditabimur sopore. 
28 meditabitur Fst. 

21. discede] Cp. 21. 4note; Prud. 24. cateruam] 'band' of evil 
Apoih. 406 fuge callide serpens... spirits as at 66. 7. 

desine, Christus adest. 25. fatlscens] 'worn out,' 'tired,' 

22. liquesce] 'melt away,' 'van- cp. 22. 2 note. 

ish'; cp. Sil. Punic. XVI. 134 27. BUb ipso... BOpore] 'in sleep 

Hannibal ipse etiam iam iamque itself,' not 'as sleep comes on,' which 

modestior arniis \ ire uidebatur,Mar- would be sub ipsuin soporeiii ; cp. 6. 

tisqiie liquescere fama. 21 f., Cant. v. 2. 

Hymn 27 

Cathemerino7i V, from which 27 is taken, consists of 
41 four-line stanzas, is inscribed ad incensuni lucernae, 
and refers originally to the lighting of lamps, and was 
therefore, like hymn 5 (Ambrose's evening hymn), where 
see the introduction, meant for singing at the lucernare. 
That this was its use in the firs't place is shown not only 
by the title in the MSS, but also by its position among 
the poems of the Cathenierinon, coming as it does 
between IV hymniis ante cibum and VI hyinnus ante 
somnwn. 

Hymn 27 begins with a seasonable prayer for light to 
Christ who is the only source of light. Then follows a 
highly poetical description of the various substitutes for 
the light of the sun, and an expression of thanks to God 
for this, the greatest blessing which He has given to men. 

In those verses of the original poem which are omitted 
in the hymn, roughly speaking 30-148, Prud. is led by 
the incident of the burning bush to describe in a long 
digression the passage of the Red Sea and the destruc- 
tion of Pharaoh, and certain events of the journeyings of 



134 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



the Israelites to the Promised Land ; and this again 
suggests a glowing picture of the heavenly Canaan. 

Although the original poem was written for the daily 
lucernare, the hymn, adopted as such not before the IXth 
century, is a celebration of the lighting of the Easter 
Candle, for which see Smith Diet. Chr. Ant. p. 1564, 
Kraus 11. 564; also the note on line 31. 



Eanv Makx 
Inuentor rutili, dux bone, luminis, 
qui certis uicibus tempera diuidis, 
merso sole chaos ingruit horridum, 
lumen redde tuis, Christe, fidelibus. 

quamuis innumero sidere regiam 
lunarique polum lampade pinxeris, 



3 inruit Mk, 

1. Innentor] 'creator,' has lost 
its meaning of ' discoverer ' as has 
repertor. See 12. 2. The 1st and 
4th lines are an echo of Hor. Od. iv. 
V. 5 lucetn redde tuae, dux bone, 
patriae. 

2. For this merciful interchange 
for our refreshment and for the re- 
gularity of the changes see introduc- 
tion to 2. 

certis] 'fixed,' is especially used 
of anything that recurs at definite 
intervals, as of the regular courses 
of the sun and stars (47. 4, 84. 20), 
or of the fixed interchange of times 
and seasons (as here and 57. i) ; cp. 
also 42. 57, 62. i. 

uicibus] used as at 17. 2. 

3. merso] 'dipped in ocean,' 'set'; 
so Catull. LXVI. 68 (of a constella- 
tion) qui uix sero alto mergitur 
oceano. 

chaos] the state of the world when 
it was without form and void and 
darkness was upon the face of the 
deep ; cp. Ov. Met. i. 5 ante mare 
et tellus et quod tegit omnia caelum \ 
unus erat toto naturae uultus in 



5-28 om. Ea. 

orbe, I quern dixere chaos, rudis in- 
digestaque moles: Lact. Inst. i. 4 chaos 
est mdis inordinataeque materiae 
confusa congeries. It is therefore an 
apt image of night, as in Stat. Silv. 
III. ii. 92, Prud. Cath. ix. 81, Ptrist. 

111. 55. See also 36. 36 note, and 
73. 7. 

ingruit] Cp. Verg. Georg. 11. 410 
ingruit umbra. 

4. fidelibus] a subst., as at 29. 49. 

5. inniunero sidere] collective 
sing, as Ov. Her. xvi. 366 innumeri 
militis. Cp. 36. 49 innumej-um po- 
pulum. Verg. has innumeras gentes, 
and Prud. elsewhere always uses the 
plur. 

regiam] ' Thy palace ' (cp. 41. 36, 

112. 24) and polum both denote the 
same thing, the nightly heavens. 

6. lunari... lampade] Cp. Verg. 
Aen. III. 637 Phoebeae lampadis 
(which Prud. may have taken to 
mean ' the torch of Phoebe ') ; Fort. 
IV. xxvi. 131 lampade lunae; VII. vi. 
3 lucifer . . .lampada miitit. 

pinxeris] 'picked out,' 'adorned.' 
So of an embroidered robe Verg. 



HYMN XXVII. PRUDENTIUS 135 

incussu silicis lumina nos tamen 

monstras saxigeno semine quaerere ; 

ne nesciret homo spem sibi luminis 

in Christi solido corpore conditam, 10 

qui dici stabilem se uoluit petram, 

nostris igniculis unde genus uenit ; 

pinguis quos olei rore madentibus • 

lychnis aut facibus pascimus aridis, 

quin et fila fauis scirpea floreis 15 

7 inpulsu Ev. 8 monstrans Ev. 13 Unguis Ev. om. quos Mk. 

14 ac {pro aut) Env. 



Aen. IX. 582, and of parti-coloured 
flowers Ed. il. 50 mollia luteola 

pingit tiaccinia caltha. Cp. Lucr. V. 
1 396 anni \ tempora pingebant uiri- 
dantis Jioribiis herbas ; Fort. VI. iv. 
1 1 non cupis auro umeros, nee collum 

pingere gemmis. 

8. monstras . . . quaerere] ' biddest 
us seek ' ; so Verg. has an inf. after 
monstrare: Aen. IX. 44 conferre 
tnanitm pudor iraque monstrat. 

saxigeno one of those compound 
adj.'s which were as a rule avoided 
by the severer taste of the Augustan 
poets but which were much liked by 
Prud., who among others has caeli- 
potens, columnifer, cunctiparens, 
ctmctipotens, dulcimodus, falsiloqitus 
etc. See note on 36. 1 Jlorigero. 

The two lines 7, 8 are a remini- 
scence of Verg. Aen. vi. 6 quaerit 
pars semina Jlamtnae \ abstrnsa in 
uenis silicis; cp. Lucr. vi. 160, 20 r, 
841; Hom. Od. V. 490 ffvipiia irvp6i. 

9. This necessity of seeking light 
from the rock, to supplement that 
of moon and stars, is to teach us 
that, as Christ was the spiritual rock 
that followed the Israelites in the 
desert (see introduction p. 133), so 
He is the one source of our lights. 
Prud., as all the ancients, thought 
that the flint, by means of which 
fire was obtained, was the abode of 
the fire. Ambr. Hex. 11. 12 f. 

sibi... conditam] 'was stored,' or 



'hidden,' 'for him.' The body of 
Christ is called solidum to prejiare 
for the far-fetched interpretation 
which follows. 

1 1. petram] i Cor. x. 4, Wisdom 
xi. 4 data est Hits aqua de petra altis- 
sima. Deut. xxxii. 13. 

12. igniculis] 'our poor lights,' 
contrasted with Him who is the lux 
uera, line 29. The diminutive form 
is depreciatory. 

unde refers back to Christi solido 
corpore in 10. 

genus] 'source,' 'origin,' as Verg. 
Aen. I. 380 genus ab Tone swnmo. 

13 f. ' Which (lights) we feed with 
lamps wet with the liquid of rich 
oil or with dry torches, nay too we 
fashion rush-wicks smeared with 
wax from the flowers, the honey 
having been squeezed out before.' 
Lamps, torches, wax tapers are 
here described and again in the next 
stanza. The lines are full of echoes 
of Vergil. 

13. Cp. Verg. Eel. V. 6% pinguis 
crateras oliiti; Verg. Aen. V. 854 
rore madentem. 

14. pascimus] Vei^. Aen. xi. 786 
pineus ardor cueruo \ pascitur. 

aridis] Verg. Aen. i. 1 75 succepit- 
que ignemfoliis at que arida circum \ 
nutrimenta dedif, where however 
dry tinder is spoken of. 

15. Cp. Verg. Georg. iv. 140 
cogere pressis \ nulla fauis. 



136 



EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 



presso melle prius conlita fingimus. 

uiuax flamma uiget, seu caua testula 
sucum linteolo suggerit ebrio, 
seu pinus piceam fert alimoniam, 
seu ceram teretem stuppa calens bibit. 

splendent ergo tuis muneribus, Pater, 
flam mis mobilibus scilicet atria, 
absentemque diem lux agit aemula, 
quam nox cum lacero uicta fugit peplo. 

o res digna, Deus, quam tibi roscidae 
noctis principio grex tuus offerat, 
lucem, qua tribuis nil pretiosius, 
lucem, qua reliqua praemia cernimus. 

tu lux uera oculis, lux quoque sensibus, 
intus tu speculum, tu speculum foris, 



25 



17-24 om. Ev. 
!7 et ^% luce Ev. 



21-24 om. En. 



30 



26 uotis {j>ro noctis) Ev. 



17. testtila] the earthenware 're- 
ceiver ' of the lamp ; the word is 
diminutive in form, but not in mean- 
ing, testula refers to the lychnis 
above, pinus to the facibus, and 
stuppa to the fila scirpea. 

18. linteolo... ebrio] 'well soaked 
linen yarn.' 

19. Cp. Verg. Aen. ix. ^^ piceum 
fert fumida lumen \ taeda. Lev. iii. 

16 adolebitque ea...in alimoniam 
ignis. The classical word was ali- 
mentum ; alimonia was used by 
Plautus, then not until Aulus Gellius. 

20. ' Or if the burning tow drinks 
up the rounded wax ' ; alluding to 
the shape of the taper. 

2 if. 'Aye our halls blaze with 
Thy gifts, even {scilicet) with these 
flickering flames.' 

23. Prud. Perist. XI. 167 sic datttr 
absentis per subterranea solis \ cemere 
fulgorem luminibusque frui. 

agit] 'plays the part of,' 'repre- 
sents ' ; cp. Cic. ad Fam. II. 9 egi 
omnes illos adulescentes . 



24. ' from which flees night beaten 
and with rent robe. ' Prud. takes the 
idea in uicta from Verg. Aen. i. 727 
noctemjlamviisfunalia uincunt ; cp. 
Paul. Nol. Carm. xiv. 52. He is in 
turn copied by Fortunatus I. xv. 56 
(of a well lighted, church) 7tox ubi 
uicta fugit semper habendo diem. 

peplo] For ' night's robe ' see the 
note on 21. 5. 

25 f. ' O worthy offering for Thy 
flock to make Thee at the beginning 
of dewy night, even light, than which 
Thou grantest nought more precious, 
light by which we perceive Thy other 
gifts.' 

27. lucem is attracted into the 
same case as quam in 2 5. Somewhat 
like are Ter. Eun. 653 eunuchum 
quem dedisti nobis, quas turbas dedit; 
Verg. Aen. I. 573 urbem quam statuo 
uestra est. 

28. reliqua] see 4. 28. 

29. lux uera] i John i. 5. 
sensibuB] to the eyes of the soul, 

as at 3. 8. 



HYMN XXVII. PRUDENTIUS 137 

lumen, quod famulans offero, suscipe 
tinctum pacifici chrismatis unguine, 

per Christum genitum, summe Pater, tuum, 

in quo uisibilis stat tibi gloria, 

qui noster dominus, qui tuus unicus 35 

spiral de patrio corde Paraclitum. 



30. speculum] inins refers to sen- 
sibus, forts to oculis of 29. It is not 
easy to see what Prud. means by 
calling God a speculum. Perhaps it 
is that He shews us what we ought 
to see, both in the spiritual and in 
the natural world. The thought is 
not unlike that of 3. 3 lux lucis. 

31. ' The light thus offered at the 
beginning of night ' is in the hymn 
the paschal candle ; see the intro- 
duction. But Prud. was thinking of 
the ordinary lights of evening. We 
do not elsewhere read of these lights 
as being ' offered,' but the very 
ancient custom of giving thanks in 
connexion with them may well have 
been considered as a kind of con- 
secration of them. See Oehler's n. 
on Tert. de Cor. Mil. 3, where Tert. 
speaks of making the sign of the 
cross ad lumina as one of the im- 
memorial traditions of the church. 
Among other reff. Oehler notes Je- 
rome Ep. LVii ad Laetavi (p. 595 
Martianay), where he recommends 
that Laeta's daughter should make 
an act of devotion at the third, sixth, 
and ninth hours, accensaque lucerna- 
cula reddere sacrificium uespertinum. 
Jerome does not exactly speak of 
offering the light, but it is so closely 
joined to the ' evening sacrifice ' as 
to suggest that it formed a part of 
it. There remains, however, in Prud., 
the mystical relation between the 
lamp itself and the offerer's soul. It 
is not easy to see which is directly 
intended, and which indirectly. If 
he intends lumen to be the lamp, he 
uses language concerning it which 
properly applies to the baptized and 
confirmed believer: if he intends the 
believer, his language is borrowed, 



at least in part, from the feeding of 
the lamp. Cellarius explains lumen 
as equivalent iofidei lumen, compar- 
ing Perist. X. 432 f. cernant ut tllud 
lumen aetemaespei ; . . .puris sed intus 
quod relucet mentibus. But how can 
we fit on to this the next line tinctum 
pacifici chrismatis unguitul It may 
be compared with Tert. de Prcuscr. 
36, where Tert. speaks of the faith 
as being sealed with the baptismal 
water, fed with the Eucharist etc. 

famulans] 'serving, 'hence 'hum- 
bly'; cp. Fort. IV. xiv. 13 ibat ad 
abbatem famulans sanctumque ma- 
gistrum \ discipulus humilis. 

32. tinctum] 'dipped,' the regular 
word for ' baptized ' in Tertullian 
and other early Latin fathers, chris- 
matis has its special Christian signi- 
ficance, but might mean no more 
than uni^uen by itself, pacifici has 
reference both to theolive branch and 
to the peace which the Spirit confers. 

unguine] a word found in Verg. 
Georg. III. 450 and elsewhere. 

34. stat] means little more than 
est ; cp. Leo's edition of Fortunatus 
p. 418. Ronsch p. 388 reminds us 
that stare passed into the French 
itre, and gives examples of a like 
use from several Latin writers. 

uisibilis] see Col. i. 15, and cp. 
Novatian de Trin. p. 119 (Fausset). 

35. unicus is a subst., as at 31. 
91, 71. 3, 87. 2 ; it is used adjectiv- 
ally 36. 28, 98. 2, 104. 50, 117. 26, 
119. 18. 

36. For the Procession of the 
Spirit from the Son cp. 6. 30. 

de patrio corde] Cp. 1. 3, 28. i. 

ParAclitus is always thus scanned 
in these hymns except at 118. 5, in 
consequence of the Greek accent. 



138 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

per quem splendor, honos, laus, sapientia, 

maiestas, bonitas, et pietas tua 

regnum continual numine triplici, 

texens perpetuis saecula saeculis. 40 

37. i. e. ' Through Whom (it is not Od. III. xvi, 42 si Mydgoniis regnum 

clear whether Prud. means the Son Alyattei \ cainpis contimiem ; Prud. 

or the Spirit) Thy brightness... has Praefatio ^1 hymnis continuet dies ; 

everlasting sway.' Fort. I. i. 12 quo sifie node manet 

sapientia] from Rev. vii. 12 ; cp. continuata dies. 

Rev. V. 12. 40. texens... saecula] God's glory 

39. contlnuare means ' to make etc. are considered as forming the 

continuous'or 'unbroken, 'as inHor. thread which binds age to age. 



Hymn 28 

This hymn is pieced together from Peristephanon II, 
the lines in the original being 15, 17, 397, 398, 21-32, 
549) 550, 565. It is based upon 14, Ambrose's hymn on 
St Lawrence, the introduction to which should be re- 
ferred to for the death of Xystus and Lawrence. See 
also the general introduction to Prudentius p. 117. 

Mhk 
En martyris Laurentii 
armata pugnauit fides, 
postquam uapor diutinus 
decoxit exustum latus. 

fore hoc sacerdos dixerat 5 

iam Xystus adfixus cruci, 

I f. The first two lines are ex- the places of 3 and 4: nam morte 

plained by the preceding passage of mortem diruit \ ac semel impendit 

the original, the sense of which is : sibi — come from 19, 20 of the 

the one glory formerly lacking to original. For uapor see 6. 24. 

Rome, now given up to Christ, was 5. sacerdos in early writers is 

the final subjugation of foul Jove, perhaps the commonest word for 

not by the turbulent might of 'bishop.' Cp. Cypr. j5/>/j/. Lxvi. 5 

Cossus, Camillus or Caesar, but by ecce iam sex annis nee fraternitas 

the not bloodless strife of the martyr habuerit episcopum, fiec plebs prae- 

Lawrence. positum, nee grex pastor em, nee 

3 f. See 14. 28 f. The two fine ecclesia gubernatorem, nee Christus 

lines which in some hymnals take antistitem, nee Deus sacerdoiem. 



HYMN XXIX. PRUDENTIUS 139 

Laurentium flentem uidens 
crucis sub ipso stipite : 

* desiste discessu meo 

fletum dolenter fundere ; 10 

praecedo, frater ; tu quoque 

post hoc sequeris triduum.' 

extrema uox episcopi 

praenuntiatrix gloriae 

nihil fefellit, nam dies 15 

praedicta palmam praestitit. 

hinc, sancte Laurenti, tuam 
nos passionem quaerimus : 
quod quisque supplex postulat, 
cunctis fauendo praeroga. 20 

9 decessu Mh. 12 triduo Mk. 10 proroga Mh. 

7. flentem] This use of a parti- 561 f. quae sit potestas credita | et 

ciple for the infinitive after a verb tnuneris quantum datum \ probant 

of perception, though the rule in Quiritum gaudia, \ quibus rogatus 

Greek, is rare in Latin. Prud. has adnuis. For tuam passionem = te 

it again Cath. x. 1 10 uictrix caro passtim see 7. 6 note ; and for the 

iamque perennis \ cemet sine Jine ace. after quaero, Schmalz 359. The 

gementem ; cp. Schmalz 453 f. thing asked is contained in the next 

9 f. Note the alliteration. couplet. 

15. niliil] 'in no respect,' as at 20. fauendo] =/a«<r«j, cp. 21. 11. 

45. 19 ; cp. Draeger i. 360. This line is not in Prud., but forms 

1 7. Mnc] Prud. has sic. a summary of the last part of his 

18. 'We ask from thy passion,' poem. 

i.e. ' from thee as a martyr.' See pi«erogare (cp. erogare, proro- 

the two following lines of the ori- gave) means 'to pay promptly': 

ginal text : est aula nam duplex Dirksen gives several instances from 

tibi, I hie corporis., mentis polo ; and Law Latin. 



Hymn 29 
'The crowning glory of the poetry of Prudentius' 
(Trench) is the tenth hymn of his Cathemerinon, from 
which both 29 and 30 are taken. The deep Christian 
feeling and thought, the exquisite expression thereof, 
and the admirable choice of metre, — the anapaestic 
dimeter catalectic, or the second part of a hexameter — all 



HO EARLY LA TIN H YMNS 

combine to make this poem the masterpiece of its kind 
in literature. 

The only church that in ancient times sang these 
grand verses circa exseqnias deftincti was the Mozarabic. 
The following cento, hymn 29 (comprising stanzas I-vil, 
XII, xv-xvii, XL-XLii of the whole poem), is that found 
in the Spanish use, which added two stanzas of a bar- 
barous type : aniwias tion iminemor ob hoc, \ quarum 
memores sumus ipsi, \ Dens, sorte, rogamus, a portis \ 
erebi regis fac alienas. \ sit honor tibi,fons pietatis, \ laus, 
gloria, sumnia potestas \ Patri, Genito, sine Dona, \ orbis 
regi,qui Dens unus. So Blume Analecta xxvil. 38 prints 
from the breviary of Ortiz of 1502. Daniel I. 140 gives 
the lines incorrectly from Lorenzana. 

Makx 
Deus ignee fens animarum, 
duo qui socians elementa, 
uiuura simul ac moribundum, 
hominem pater effigiasti : 

tua sunt, tua, rector, utraque ; 5 

tibi copula iungitur horum ; 
3 et Max 

1. Prud. looked upon the soul as is immortal {uiuum) and the body 
sprung from fire, which was the doomed to death {ntoribttndtini). 
principle of life, and from God the Fort. xi. i. 33 iudicaturus uiuos el 
creator of fire, Calh. III. 186 oris mortuos : hoc est anitnas et corpora 
opus, uigor igneolus, non nioritur ; pariter iudicandas. 

Hamart. 543 f. tiec segnis natura 4. effigfiasti] 'hast fashioned,' a 

aitittiae est . . .ignitum quoniam Deus word perhaps coined by Prud. from 

indidit olli \ ingenium ; cp. 30. 4, effigies. It is found afterwards in 

Clem. Hom. xx. 90! hi tCov dvdpu- Sidonius Apoll. 

irwv \//vxai, (fxarbi KaOapov ffraySvei 5. Utraque] both body and soul. 

ov(Tai, vTrb a\\o(pij\ov iru/)os oixriai As only two things are thought of, 

<TVfiirivhfj.evai koI <pv(nv tov airodaveLv the sing, utrumque would be more 

ovK ^x*"'"''" "■"■'■' a|''a»' KoXd^ovrai. correct. The plural, already used by 

See the commentators on Wisd. Verg. ^en. VI. 685 palmas utrasque 

ii. 2. and Tac. Ann. xvi. it utrosque 

2. The two 'principles,' as Prud. intuens, became the normal use in 
goes on to say, are the soul which late Latin, as e.g. Fort. iii. vi. 26 



HYMN XXIX. PRUDENTIUS 



141 



tibi, dum uegetata cohaerent, 
et spiritus et caro seruit. 

rescissa sed ista seorsum 
soluunt hominem perimuntqye; 
humus excipit arida corpus, 
animae rapit aura liquorem. 

quia cuncta creata necesse est 
labefacta senescere tandem, 
conpactaque dissociari, 
et dissona texta retexi. 

hanc tu, Deus optime, mortem 
famulis abolere paratus, 

8 spiritus simul {pro et sp.) Mk. 12 anima Mk. 
17 hinc ad fin. hymni sequentis nihil annotauit Walp. 



10 



15 



15 confracta Ma. 



spes in utrisque (Domitian and Vic- 
torius) tnanens ; cp. the Vulg. of 
Ecclus. xl. 23, Lk. vii. 42. The a is 
lengthened by the stress of the verse 
coinciding with the accent of the 
word, which fell on this syllable 
perhaps by a mistaken analogy with 
words to which the enclitic -que 
(' and ') was appended. So Fort. 
VI 11. vi. II pariter habeatis utrcujtie. 

6. tibi] 'by Thee.' The dat. of 
the agent is rare except with parti- 
ciples or participials ; but cp. Verg. 
Aen. I. 440 neque cernitur tilli, 
Schmaiz 375. Prud. may, however, 
intend the dat. to mean that the 
union is for God's glory and the 
accomplishment of His purposes. 

7. uegetata] ' quickened,' as 
Hamart. 846 unde Jluens anima 
structum uegetauerat Adam ; Aug. 
Conf. X. 10 tu melior es,.. .anima, 
quoniam tu uegetas molem corporis 
tui, praebens ei uitam ; 36. 51. 

9. ' But the cutting of them 
asunder breaks up and destroys the 
man.' 

1 1 . The earth is ' dry ' as op- 
posed to the nature of the soul, cp. 
Apoth. 694 liquidus caelesti spiritus 



ore. animae liquorem is equivalent 
to animam liquidam. Prud. has in 
mind Lucr. 11. 999 cedit item retro, 
de terra quodfuit ante, \ in terras, et 
quod missumst ex aetheris oris, \ id 
nirsttm caeli rellatum templa recep- 
tant. Cp. Eur. Suppl. 531 f. eaffaT 
^Stj yy Ka\v<f>dijvai veKpo6s, \ O0ev S' 
iKaarov h rb <I)Q)% d(plK€To, \ ivravd' 
direXOeiu, wvev/ia /liv irpds aidipa, | 
t6 aS)fia 5' ^s yqv. [Damasus] xcil. 
7 terrenum nunc terra tegit, mens 
nescia mortis \ uiuit et aspectu 
fruitur bene conscia Christi ; Fort. 
IV. xxvii. 5 terrae terra redit, sed 
spiritus astra recepit : pars iacet haec 
tumulo, pars temt ilia polum. See 
too the epitaph on Gregory the 
Great (Bede Hist. Ecd. 11. i) j«j- 
cipe terra tuo corpus de corport 
sumptum . . . spiritus astra petit ; 
BUcheler Anthol. Lat. 1420. a astra 
tenent animam, ccutera tellus habet. 
14. tandem] 'sooner or later.' 

16. 'Discordant elements in 
union must be dissolved' lit. 'un- 
woven.' Lucr. uses retexo freely, as 
at I. 529. 

17. mortem ..abolere] 2 Tim. 
i. 10, Heb. ii. 14. 



142 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



iter inuiolabile monstras, 

quo perdita membra resurgant : 

ut, dum generosa caducis 
ceu carcere clausa ligantur, 
pars ilia potentior exstet, 
quae germen ab aethere traxit. 

si terrea forte uoluntas 
luteum sapit et graue captat, 
animus quoque pondere uictus 
sequitur sua membra seorsum. 

hinc maxima cura sepulcris 
inpenditur, hinc resolutos 
honor ultimus accipit artus 
et funeris ambitus omat. 



20 



25 



30 



20. perdita] i.e. seemingly de- 
stroyed. 

21. ut... exstet explains the iter 
of 19, in the sense of 'the condition 
being that.' 

generosa] i.e. the heaven-bom 
elements, cp. 24. 

caducis] as at 23. 9. Notice the 
alliteration. 

22. Cp. Prud. Praef. 44 uinclis 
o utinam corporis emicem \ liber! 
Perist. \\. 584 uinclis saeculi; 
Ambr. de Bono Mortis fi ita dimitti 
petit quasi a uinculis quibusdam ad 
libertatemfestinaret. sunt enim uelut 
uincula quaedam corporis huius... 
quae nos alligant\ Fort. 11. vii. 7 
uincula corporei dissoluere carceris 
optans ; iv. xiv. 3 ; 41. 45. 

23. potentior exstet] 'assert it- 
self as the more powerful. ' Prud. is 
speaking of what must be done 
while the union still exists (dum 
ligantur), in order to insure the 
resurrection of the body (20). 25 
foil, shew the eflfect of the opposite 
course. 

24. ab aethere] ' from heaven ' ; 
hence the epithet generosa in 21. 
See the passage frona Lucr. at 1 1 . 



25. ' If perchance the will of the 
body (cf. Eph. ii. 3 tioliintatem car- 
nis) savours of the clay and chooses 
the gross element.' 

terrea] ' of the body,' i Cor. xv. 

47- 

26. luteum refers to the material 
of which the body was formed, cp. 
Gen. ii. 7, Job xxxiii. 6 de eodem 
luto ego quoque formatus sum ; Cath. 
III. 138 non luteus, uelut ille prior. 
Hor. Od. I. xvi. 13 speaks oi prin- 
cipi limo, 'our original clay.' For 
the phrase cp. Rom. xi. 20 noli 
altum sapere; Cath. II. 32 castum 
sapit. 

27. pondere u.] Cp.Wisd. ix. 15. 
29. Mnc] i.e. because the bodies 

now in the ground will one day rise 
with their own souls, as is more 
clearly seen in the original setting, 
wherein this stanza follows 30. 1 7-20. 

31. 'The last honour (viz. of 
burial) welcomes the limbs relaxed 
in death.' The body is a guest to be 
honourably received. 

32. 'The stately funeral' in 
Prud.'s time would (if in Rome) 
pass with pomp to the cemetery or 
catacomb. 



HYMN XXIX. PRUDENTIUS 



H3 



hoc prouida christicolarum 
pietas studet, utpote credens 
fore protinus omnia uiua, 
quae nunc gelidus sopor urget. 

qui iacta cadauera passim 
miserans tegit aggere terrae, 
opus exhibet ille benignum 
Christo pius omnipotent!. 

quia lex eadem monet omnes 
gemitum dare sorte sub una, 



35 



40 



33. hoc] an honourable burial. 
The line is an echo of Hor. Od. III. 
V. 13 hoc cauerat mens prouida Re- 
guli. 

34. utpote cr.] 'as believing.' 67- 
pote is usually followed by a relative 
clause or by ctim, but cp. Hor. Sat. 
I. V. 94 inde Kubos fessi peruenimus 
utpote longum \ carpentes iter; Apoth. 
903 utpote... acdpiens ; Hamart. 526 
utpote suninto aethere demissus. 

36. urget] ' w eighs down ' ; from 
Hor. Od. I. xxiv. 5 ergo Quintiliutn 

perpetuus sopor \ urget. A compari- 
son of the two passages, expressed 
in very similar words, well illus- 
trates the changed aspect of death 
to a Christian. . To Horace death is 
a sleep, but a sleep that knows no 
waking, as to CaluU. V. 4 nobis cum 
semel occidit breuis lux, \ nox est 
peipetua una dormienda. 

37. passim] 'at large,' 'at ran- 
dom,' Here again it is worth while 
to compare Horace's interesting ode 
I. xxviii. concerning the three hand- 
fuls of earth, which constituted a 
legitimate burial and saved the soul 
of the dead from wandering for 100 
years on the banks of the Styx ; cp. 
Verg. Aen. vi. 325. 

38. Cp. Verg. Aen. xi. 212 
\ossd\ onerabant aggere terrae. 

40. pius refers to the ' duteous ' 
(cp. 7. 13 note) as benignum to the 
' kindly' character of the. act. Con- 



trast Hor. I.e. 23 at tu nauta uagae 
ne parce malignus harenae \ ossibus 
et capiti inhumato \ pariiculam 
dare. 

omnipotenti seems to suggest 
that he shall not lose his reward, 
though in Matt, xxv the burial of 
the dead is not one of the corporal 
works of mercy mentioned, 

41. Cp. Damas. iv. 3 communi 
lege sepultos. Biicheler Anthol. Lat. 
1376. I (C.I.L. XI. 382) humano 
generi legem natura creairix hanc 
dedit ut tumuli membra sefntlta te- 
gant; Tertullian de Spectaculis 21 
cadauer hominis communi lege de- 
futhti. 

42. ' teaches us that we all groan 
under the one lot (of mortality) and 
that in a stranger's death we grieve 
for the burial of our own kin ' ; cog- 
nata being contrasted with aliena. 
For cognata /unera, ' the burial of 
our kin,' cp. Catull. Lxviii. 98 nee 
prope cognatos compositum cineres ; 
Propert. I v. vii. 10 nee pote cognatos 
inter humare rogos. Or perhaps 
' that in another's death we grieve 
for a fate like our own.' Latin has 
no use of the pronoun corresponding 
to ' that of, ' as in 'a fate like that 
of ourselves,' and so had to say 
either 'a death like our own death,' 
or 'a death like to us.' 

gemitum dare] Verg. Aen. \. 485. 



144 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



cognataque funera nobis 
aliena in morte dolere. 

sequimur tua dicta, Redemptor, 
quibus atra morte triumphans 
tua per uestigia mandas 
socium crucis ire latronem. 

patet, ecce, fidelibus ampli 
uia lucida iam paradisi, 
licet et nemus illud adire, 
homini quod ademerat anguis. 

illic, precor, optime ductor, 
famulam tibi praecipe mentem 
genitali in sede sacrari, 
quam liquerat exsul et errans. 



45 



50 



55 



44. in] 'in the case of,' cp. 14. 13 
in illo martyre. 

45. Lk. xxiii. 43, cp. 10. 7. se- 
quimur, 'we follow in thought.' 
Cp. 55 ductor. 

46. ' triumphing over black 
death.' The object triumphed over 
is regarded as the instrument by 
which the triumph is gained. But it 
would be hard to find a similar 
usage. The usual idiom is de or ex 
with the abl., in poets and late 
writers the ace, as at 16. 24. Per- 
haps the meaning is ' triumphing in 
the darkest hour of death.' 

47. tua per uestigia] 'in Thy 
footsteps' : cp. Fort. ix. xi. 5 cuius 
pontijicis scura per uestigia currens. 

49. ampli] ' spacious,' like Ver- 
gil's ^ largior... aether' Cp. Passio 
S. Perpet. XI. uidimus lucent itn- 
mensa?n .. .factum est nobis spatium 
grande. Prud. paints the glories of 
Paradise in glowing colours, Cath. 
III. loi f. ttinc per amoena uirecta 
iubet \frondicomis habitare locis, \ 
uer ubi perpetuum recblet \ prataque 
multicolora latex \ quculrifluo celer 
amne rigat ; a passage imitated by 
S^dul. Carm. I. 53 amoena uirecta \ 
Jiorentum semper nemorum sedesque 



beatas \ per latices intrate pios. 

50. uia... paradisi] 'the way to 
Paradise.' The gen. is descriptive 
and is an extension of such a phrase 
as Verg. Aen. 11. 359 mediaeque 
tenemus urhis iter, ' we hold the 
way to the heart of the city,' where 
the adj. makes a difference. Cp. 
Propert. I. xx. 18 uiam Phasidos 
('the voyage to Phasis'j and pro- 
bably II. i. 20 caeli iter. 

51. nemus illud] i.e. Paradise. 
The word is perhaps chosen with a 
view to Verg. Aen. vi. 639 and 
similar passages. 

52. Gen. iii. i f. 

54. famulam tibi] ' Thy faithful 
servant,' now that the hindrances of 
the flesh are removed. 

mentem] 'soul.' 

55. genitali] ' native,' because 
our first parents were born in (the 
earthly) Paradise ; cp. 92. 2 note. 
Perhaps sacrari is used in the same 
kind of sense as consecrat in Hor. 
Od. IV. viii. 27 diuitibus consecrat 
insulis. 

56. Gen. iii. 23 f.; there may 
perhaps be a reminiscence of Gen. 
iv. 12, 14 (O. L. gemens et tremens, 
Vulg. uagus et profugus). 



HYMN XXX. PRUDENTIUS 145 

Hymn 30 

Hymn 30 is also taken from Cathemerinon X, being a 
cento ingeniously patched together and consisting of 
lines 1 17-120, 53-56, 33-44, 121-140 of that poem. We 
know neither by whom this rearrangement was made nor 
exactly when. So skilfully has it been done that it reads 
like the rearrangement of the poet himself If it be true 
(as Rambach Anthologie I. ^6 asserts) that the new hymn 
was not used before the Reformation, it was probably 
made up at about that time. It came into great favour as 
a funeral hymn in the evangelical church of Germany, 
being often sung in Latin. A fine paraphrase, Hort aiif 
init Traiiern und Klagen, was published in 1561 and in- 
creased its popularity. Trench p. 287 f prints another 
selection, being the last thirteen stanzas of the original 
poem with the omission of one of them ; on what authority 
I know not. 

lam maesta quiesce querella ; 
lacrimas suspendite matres ; 
nuUus sua pignora plangat ; 
mors haec reparatio uitae est. 

1. [Damas.] xxi. i slringe dolor but Prud. does not distinguish the 
lacrimas. maestus and maereo de- two words, for he says Perist. ll. 
note the outward expression of 744 nemineni diem. 

grief, cp. 1. 54. plcrnora] lit. ' pledges,' constantly 

querella] The two oldest MSS of used in classical authors, as here, of 

Prud. spell the word with the double children, regarded as ' warrants ' of 

/, in spite of the dicta of the Lat. the continuance of mutual love and 

grammarians quoted by Brambach as ' pledges ' to fortune ; cp. 31. i6, 

Die Neugeslaltung der lat. Orthogra- 36. 52. Btlcheler ^wM^/. /.«/. 1 389. 

/A»Vp. 259. See also Lachm. 's Z«<-r. 21 (C.I.L. xn. log^) pignora desis- 

p. 203 f., Munro's Lucr. vol. I. tant la^rimis planctuque grauari: 

p. 33 (ed. 5), Ribbeck prol. in Verg. turn placeal gemere quod celebrare 

p. 429. So too medella, 33. 9 etc. decet. 

2. Buspendite] 'cease from'; cp. plangat] lit. 'beat the breast' 
Ov. Fast. IV. 849 tiec iam suspettdere rarely takes the ace. of the person 

Jletum sustinet. lamented ; but cp. Lk. viii. 52 

3. niillus is a subst. used, for plangebant illam. 

nemo, to mark the masc. gender ; 4. Death far from being the end 



146 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



quidnam sibi saxa cauata, 
quid pulchra uolunt monumenta, 
nisi quod res creditur illis 
non mortua sed data somno ? 

nam quod requiescere corpus 
uacuum sine mente uidemus, 
spatium breue restat ut alti 
repetat conlegia sensus. 

uenient cito saecula, cum iam 
socius calor ossa reuisat, 
animataque sanguine uiuo 
habitacula pristina gestet. 



15 



is the renewal of life ; so Prud. 
Perist. VI. 96 nee uitam rapit ilia 
sed reformat ; Juvenc. I v. 31 laetcu 
reparatio uitae, of the future life ; 
ib. 349 en ego sum clarae nobis re- 
paratio uitae. 

5 f . Daniel i. 141 compares Cic. 
Tuse. I. 12 caerimonias sepulero- 
rufn maxi?nis ingeniis praediti nee 
tanta eura coluissent nee uiolatas 
tarn inexpiabili religione sanxissent, 
nisi kaesisset in eorum mentibtis 
mortem non interitum esse omnia 
tollentem et delentem, sed qimndam 
migratiottem commutatioiiemque ui- 
tae, quae in elaris uiris et feminis 
dux iti caelum soleret esse, in ceteris 
humi retineretur et permaneret 
tamen. 

7. creditur] ' is entrusted ' for a 
time, to be given back, see 27 f. ; 
cp. Ambr. in Luc. X. 141 bene ergo 
Christus monumento creditur iusti. 

8. Mt. ix. 24, xxvii. 52, Lk. viii. 
52, Joh. xi. II etc., 29. 36, Ennod. 
Hymn. i. 5 mortis Jigura blandior \ 
bustttm soporis admouet. 

9 f. ' For but a short time remains 
ere the body which we see resting 
empty without a soul shall seek 
again the partnership of the heaven- 
born intelligence.' 

II. ut nearly passes into the 
temporal sense of 'when '; cp. such 



passages as Aul. Gell. il. xxix. 4 
nidulatur in segetibus idferme tem- 
poris, ut appetat messis. 

12. conlegia] 'partnership,' cp. 
VMn. Nat. Hist. x. 1 7 eonlegium quod- 
dam naturae. It is a technical term 
to express community in office, but 
most often 'a guild' of such officials, 
whence comes our word 'college.' 
For mens and sensus cp. 29. 54, 
4. 6. 

13. saecula] ' time ' in general, a 
late usage. 

14. calor] the warmth of life as 
opposed to the cold of death, cp. 
29. 36, Verg. Aen. iv. 704. But 
there is also a reference to fire as 
the primessence of the soul, 29. i 
note. ' The bones ' are often used 
by Latin poets to denote the frame- 
work of the body, as Verg. Aen. 
III. 308 calor ossa reliquit ; but the 
bones would be the only part re- 
maining of bodies that had been 
long buried. Cp. [Tibull.] ill. ii. 17 
pars quae sola f/iei superabit corjoris, 
ossa; Ambr. Hex. vi. 51 respice in 
sepulcra hominum et tiide quid ex 
te nisi cinis et ossa remanebunt. 

15. uiuo] 'life giving.' So Ov. 
Met. V. 436 uiuo sanguine; ib. iv, 
248 uiuu77i calorem. Prud. had per- 
haps forgotten x Cor. xv. 50. 

16. gestet] 'wear.' 



HYMN XXX. PRUDENTIUS 



H7 



quae pigra cadauera pridem 
tumulis putrefacta iacebant, 
uolucres rapientur in auras 
animas comitata priores. 

sic semina sicca uirescunt 
iam mortua iamque sepulta, 
quae reddita caespite ab imo 
ueteres meditantur aristas. 

nunc suscipe terra fouendum, 
gremioque hunc concipe moUi : 
hominis tibi membra sequestro, 
generosa at fragmina credo. 



25 



1 7 f. pigra . . . iacebant] ' had long 
been lying dormant ' ; the imperfect 
is used from the point of view of the 
day of resurrection. Ambr. in Luc. 
X. i\6 pigrum corpus a mortis sopore 
se conmoiiet. 

19. I Thess. iv. 16. ' The flying 
breezes' are often mentioned by 
poets, as e.g. Verg. Aen. xi. 795. 

20. So Prud. Apoth. 1062 f. nosco 
nieutn in Christo corpus consurgtre ; 
...et totiis iieniam, nee eniin minor 
aut alitis quam \ nunc sum resti- 
tuar : uultus, uigor et color idem \ 
qui modo uiuit erit, nee me uel dente 
uel ungue \ fraudatum reuomet pate- 
facti fossa sepulcri. [Damas.] xcil. 
6 nee perit hinc aliquid Domino, 
caro cuneta resurgit. 

21 f. Nature itself teaches the 
principle of the resurrection, Joh. 
xii. 24 f., I Cor. XV. 36 f., Clem. 
Rom. XXIV, Tert. de Res. Xll, Min. 
Felix XX I \'. 1 1 uide ideo, quam in 
solacium nostri resurreetionem futu- 
ram omnis natura meditetur. sol 
demergit et nascitur, astra labuntur 
et redeunt, /lores oceidunt et reuiues- 
cunt, post senium arbusta frondes- 
cunt, semina non nisi corrupta 
reuirescunt. Paulin. Nol. Carm. 
XXXI. 231 cututa resurgendi fcuiem 
meditantur in omni \ corpore et in 
terris germina et astra polo. 



33. ' which given back from the 
deep sod call to mind the former 
ears of corn.' meditantur, lit. ' think 
of,' i.e. 'imitate'; cp. Stat. Silu. 

II. iv. 7 (of a parrot) meditataqtu 
uerba reddideras ; Prud. Perist. iii. 
24 canitiem meditata senum ; Fort. 

III. vii. ^i fulgorem astrorum medi- 
tantur tecta metallo. Or perhaps it 
is rather, 'practise for,' 'get ready 
for a renewal of.' 

25. 'Welcome him now, earth, 
into thy cherishing care and em- 
brace him in thy soft lap.' An 
old gloss notes terram alloquitur 
quasi defuncti matrem. At Perist. 
VII. 27 the river welcomes (suscipit) 
Quirinus when thrown into it ; cp. 
[Damas.] xx. 5 diaconus hie Tigri- 
das tumulo custode/ouetur; Gray's 
Elegy 1 19 'here rests his head upon 
the lap of earth | a youth....' 

27. 'The hmbs which I commit 
to thy keeping are those of a man, 
noble are the remains which I en- 
trust.' 

sequestro] ' deposit ' for safe 
keeping, a late word derived from 
sequester, which Festus defines : qui 
inter aliquos, qui certant, medius, 
ut inter eos conuenerit, depositum ita 
tenet aliquid, ut ei reddat cut id 
deheri iure sibi cotistiterit ; cp. Text. 
de Pes. .xxvil proinde enim et cor- 



148 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



animae fuit haec domus olim 
factoris ab ore creatae ; 
feruens habitauit in istis 
sapientia principe Christo. 

tu depositum tege corpus : 
non inmemor ille require! 
sua munera fictor et auctor 
propriique aenigmata uultus. 

ueniant modo tempora iusta, 
cum spem Deus inpleat omnem : 
reddas patefacta necesse est, 
qualem tibi trado figuram. 



30 



35 



40 



pora medicata condimentis septil- 
turae mausolds et monumentis se- 
questranHir. 

30. factoris] 'creator,' a not 
common word in this sense, but 
found 1. 8, 33. 4, 40. 5, 69. ^, 94. 8. 

ab ore] Gen. ii. 7, 108. 30, 
Apoth. 778 finxerat hoc digitis, 
animant sufflauerat ore, Cath. 11 1. 
186 oris opus, calor igneohis, non 
nioritnr. ab ' from,' not ' by.' 

31. Rom. viii. 9 Spiritus Dei 
habitat in nobis. 

istis] sc. fragminihiis. 

32. principe Cliristo] i.e. ori- 
ginating from Him who is entitled 
sapientia, as at 27. 37 ; cp. 36. 30. 
Perhaps Prud. has in mind i Cor. 
i. 24-ii. 16. 

35. sua munera] ' His own work. ' 
fictor] ' fashioner,' cp. Rom. ix. 
20. 
auctor] ' creator,' cp. Acts iii. 15. 



36. ' the likeness of His own 
countenance,' Gen. i. 27. 

aenigmata] ' image,' cp. Perist. 
II. 117 argenteonan aenigmatuvi i.e. 
silver coins with the emperor's like- 
ness on them; Arnob. ill. 15 
Acgyptiorum... aenigmata, quod vtu- 
torum aniniantium formas diuinis 
insertierint causis. Hence per ae- 
nigma is opposed to ' openly,' ' face 
to face,' Num. xii. 8, as is in ae- 
ttigmate i Cor. xiii. 12. 

37. tempora iusta] ' the due ' or 
' proper time ' in the counsels of 
God. So Verg. A en. x. r i adueniet 
iusttim pHgnae, ne arcessite, tempus; 
where in Jupiter's mouth the words 
denote the time appointed by the 
gods, which is not to be anticipated 
by men. St Paul's plenitudo tem- 
poris (Gal. iv. 4, cp. 33. 10) has a 
like meaning. 



IV. SEDULIUS 

Hymn 31 

Of Sedulius himself we know next to nothing. It is 
possible that his praenomen was Caelius, as fairly old 
authorities give it, but the oldest MSS call him simply 
Sedulius. Probably he was born in Rome and taught 
* philosophy ' there and in Achaia, and he returned to 
Rome. He seems to have lived during the reigns of the 
younger Theodosius (A.D. 423-425) and of Valentinian HI 
(425-455). Converted and baptized, as it appears, by a 
certain priest Macedonius, he was ordained a presbyter 
but never became a bishop. He left his secular work and 
devoted himself to the study of the scriptures, living ap- 
parently in a religious community, which was under the 
guidance of Macedonius. 

Here he wrote a poem entitled Paschale Carmen in five 
books, consisting "of 1753 hexameters. The first book by 
way of introduction treats chiefly of the marvels of the 
Old Testament. Of the other four books he writes in a 
prefatory letter to Macedonius : quattuor igitur mira- 
bilium diuinormn libellos, quos ex pluribus pauca conplexus 
usque ad passioneni et resurrectiotiem ascensionemque 
Domini nostri lesu Christi quattuor euangeliorum dicta 
congregans orditiaui, contra omnes aemulos tuae defensioni 
commendo. kuic autent operi fauente Domino PasCHALIS 
Carminis nomen inposui,quia pascha nostrum immolatus 
est Christ us. 

This poem, which is distinguished by a clear and 
simple style free from all discordant artifice or verbiage 



ISO EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

and at times rising into real poetry, gained a lasting 
popularity, for throughout the middle ages it remained 
the model of all such writing. Sedulius afterwards ren- 
dered it into rhetorical prose under the title of Paschale 
Opus. Of this prose version he writes to Macedonius : 
praecepisti. . .paschalis carminis texium^ quod officiuni purae 
deuotionis simpliciter exsecutus uobis obtuli perlegendum, 
in rhetoricmn me transferre sermonein. In the notes on 31 
and elsewhere Carin. denotes the Paschale Carmen, Op. 
the Paschale Opus. 

The following hymn 31 A soils ortus cardine in 23 
four-line stanzas gives a brief description of the chief 
wonders of Christ's earthly life in order to shew that He 
was both man and God. It is written in iambic dimeters 
and uses rhyme freely but not consistently. Two extracts 
from it were widely used in the offices of the church : the 
first seven stanzas (A-g) being sung at Christmas, while 
the following stanzas HILN were sung at the Epiphany, 
some hymnals including also KM at this latter season. 
In the Mozarabic use and in some others the whole hymn 
was sung. The stanzas A-E were appropriated in diem 
sanctae Mariae, FG were used at Christmas, HILN at the 
Epiphany, KMOP in allisione infantium, QRS on the domi- 
nica in Lazaro (the 3rd Sunday in Lent), TVXYZ in cena 
Domini. 

Like 71, 89 and 120, and like Psalm cxviii. (cxix.) and 
some other Psalms and the book of Lamentations, this 
hymn is alphabetical. Several Mozarabic hymns of the 
kind are handed down ; see Analecta XXVII. 9, 16 and 
178. Commodian used the device, as did Hilary and 
Augustine in his hymn against the Donatists, as well as 
Fort. I. xvi. Agnoscat ofnne saeculum antistitem Leontium. 



HYMN XXXI. SEDULIUS 



151 



Bb Eacdhjlrsvx/i^ Fhkpsv Gbm Habcdefgh Ibcdeghkmnv 
Magkmx Vcs<r 

A solis ortus cardine 
ad usque terrae limitem 
Christum canamus principem 
natutn Maria uirgine. 

Beatus auctor saeculi 5 

seruile corpus induit, 
ut came carnem liberans 
non perderet quod condidit. 

Clausae puellae uiscera 

I ortu Esv Fs Ig'hm' Mg Vs. 2 et {pro ad) Bb Es Fv Mg. 

3 Christo...principi Edl. 4 nato El. 7 quo (/ro ut) lb. caro 

{pro came) Edl Imn Mg. 8 ne {pro non) Eacv/i Fs Gm Il)cdghmv 

Mm Vs. quos Es/* Gm («/ uidetur) Hde Ibghmn'v Mmg, qui Id. 
9 clausa Bb Gm {ut uid.) In' Vs, casta Ecdhjiv Fh Iv, caste (=castae) 
Ea/i Fp Ibd [manu poster.) Mm, parentis (pro puellae) Fhksv Ibe. 



1. ' From the point of sunrise to 
the boundary of the earth,' i.e. from 
east to west ; Ps. cxii. (cxiii.) 3 a 
solis ortu usque ad occasum laudabile 
nomen Domini \ Is. xlv. 6, Mai. 
i. II. 

cardine] often loosely translated 
' hinge,' was the ' pivot' on which a 
door turned, forming a part of the 
door and fitting into a socket below 
and one above. Then it was the 
' pole ' on which the earth turned, 
and lastly a 'point' of the compass ; 
cp. Lucan v. 71 hesperio tantum 
quantum semotus eoo \ cardine. The 
variant et usque is grammatically 
possible, cp. Juv. X. i omnilms in 
terris quae sunt a Gaiiibus usque 
auroram. 

2. terrae limitem] beyond which 
was nothing but ocean ; cp. 11. 7 
note. 

3. principem] cp. 24. 10 note. 

5. auctor saeculi] ' maker of the 
world,' cp. 1. 8. 

6. 'clothed Himself with the 
body of a slave ' ; Phil. ii. 6 ; Basil. 



Seleuc. Orat. .YXXIX 3ta tovto fwp- 
<f>r)v ^\a/3e So^jXov 6 iv fiop(p'g deov 
inrapx'^v, Iva. Toiis 5o0\ovs r^j afiap- 
Tlas iXevOepuxras eU ttjv xporipoiv 
evyiveiav iiravayiyri Kal rod iirovpa- 
ylov varpds vlovs dvadel^'^, rg /car 
avrbv HKdyi irdXiv (Tvp.fiop<f>(t)6iirrai, 

induit] Cp. Prud. Cat A. xi. 45 
mortale corpus induit, 23. 10, 38. 20. 

7. ' By flesh freeing the flesh,' i.e. 
freeing man by becoming man. For 
the sense cp. Job. i. 14, Col. i. 72, 
32. 25 f., 113. 15. 

nt...non would in classical Latin 
be ne ; cp. Vulgate of Mt. vii. i 
nolite iudicare, ut non iudicemini. 

8. quod gives a better, because a 
wider sense than the variant quos: 
the whole creation is included ; cp. 
Carm. II. 21 sua tie fcutura periret, 

9. clausae] Cp. Carm. 11. 44 f. 
tunc maximtis infans \ intemerata 
sui conser turns uiscera templi, \ in- 
laesum ucuuauit iter, pro uirgine 
testis I partus adest, clausa ingre- 
diens et clausa relinquens; 6. 14 
note ; Fort. VIll. iii. 102 quae 



152 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



caelestis intrat gratia ; lo 

uenter puellae baiulat 
secreta quae non nouerat. 

Domus pudici pectoris 

templum repente fit Dei ; 

intacta nesciens uirum 15 

uerbo creauit filium. 

Enixa est puerpera, 

quem Gabrihel praedixerat, 

quern matris aluo gestiens 

clausus Johannes senserat. 20 

Faeno iacere pertulit, 
praesepe non abhorruit, 

10 post mirz.i desinit lAg. 1^-16 om.Gm. 13 corporis Er. 

14 fidei (pro fit dei) Ech. deo Eyu. 16 concepit Eacdsv/* Fhksv Hg 

Ibcdgnv Vcs. 



Dominum peperit clausa Maria 
manet. Ezek. xliv. 3 is referred to 
in this connexion. 

10. Lk. i. 28, 35. 

11. 'A maiden's womb bears 
mysteries which she knew not,' i.e. 
the full significance of which she 
knew not. The next stanza carries 
on the thought. 

puellae] of the Virgin, as at 38. 
12, 39. 8. Cp. Festus: baiularequis 
dia'tnr quae suo cor pore fert,...a 
baiulis i.e. operariis \ cp. 38. 11, 
39. 4, 40. 19, Ronsch 163. 

14. templum repente] Mai. iii. 
I ; and cp. 6. 16 note. 

15. nesciens uirum] Lk. i. 34. 

16. uerbo] ' by means of a word,' 
sc. the word spoken to her by the 
angel ; cp. 1. 1 1 nuntio, 38. 9 f., 
39. II. 

creauit] ' she brought forth,' a 
rare use of the word ; but cp. Verg. 
Aen. X. 551 quem nympha crearat ; 
ib. XII. 271; Sedul. Carm. 11. 144 
nondiim...creatus, 'as yet unborn.' 
liuemer quotes Ekkehard IV (Cod. 
Sang. 398 p. 8^ : Sedulius ' uerbo 



creauit Filium ,' ubi instilsi ' concepit ' 
canunt. 

I -J. enixa est] The hiatus after 
a short unaccented syllable is very 
harsh. Fabricius emended enixa 
iam est, the modern Roman breviary 
reads enititur. For the phrase cp. 
Carm. 11. 63 salue sancta parens, 
enixa puerpera regem. 

18. Lk. i. 31 f. 

19. Lk. i. 41 f. 

gestiens] 'leaping for joy'; cp. 
Festus : gestit, qui subita felicitate 
exhilaratus nimio corporis motu 
praeter consuetudinem. exsultat. 

21. faeno] 'in the hay.' The 
line is imitated 38. 17. 

22. praesepe] Carm. ir. 62 an- 
gusto Deus in praesepe quieuit ; 6. 
29 note. 

abhorruit] ' shrank from ' ; cp. 
Te Detim 16 non horruisti uirginis 
uterum. 

23. 'and He was fed with a 
little milk (cp. 39. 24), who suffers 
not even a bird to hunger ' ; Ps. 
cxlvi. (cxlvii.) 9, Lk. xii. 6. 

paruo] Cp. Op. iv. 1 parui gemi- 



HYMN XX XL SEDULIUS 



153 



25 



paruoque lacte pastus est, 
per quem nee ales esurit. 
Gaudet chorus caelestium 
et angeli canunt Deum, 
palamque fit pastoribus 
pastor, creator omnium. 
Hostis Herodes impie, 
Christum uenire quid times ? 
non eripit mortalia, 
qui regna dat caelestia. 
Ibant magi qua uenerant 
stellam sequentes praeuiam ; 

26 deo Eacv Fhs Gm {ut uid.) Hd Ibdegh^mnv Vcs. 30 uenisse E/t*. 
31 arripit Eahjvx^ (aripit Eyu) Hefg Mm Ih Vs'', deripit Iv, diripit He 
Id-gmn Vs. 33 qui uenerat Bb, qua uiderant Gb^, quam uiderant 

Easvx/*^ Fis Gb' Hg Ibgmnv Mkm Vs. 



30 



tus. The Roman breviary corrects 
to et lacte modico. 

24. nee] ' not even,' as at Carm. 
IV. 124 quodque Deo facile est homi- 
nes optare nee audent ; Fort. L. xv. 
90 et qtiicquid reliquum nee nume- 
rare queo. [The usage comes from 
the Latin Bible, where it often re- 
presents the Greek oxihi : e.g. Matt, 
vi. 29 quoniam tiec Salomon etc.] 

25 f. Lk. ii. 9 f 

26. ' and angels proclaim (the 
birth of) God'; cp. Carm. 11. 72 
angelicas cecinit miracula coetiis ; 
Op. II. 6 caelestis militiae multitudo 
Deum laudat in Christo, ut, licet 
humana ftterit pro matris condicione 
creatio, deitatis tamen una com- 
munio Patrem cognosci demonstrct 
in Filio ; 4. 29 natum Deum. 

27. 'and to sliepherds is dis- 
played the shepherd and creator of 
all'; Carm. Ii. 70 tunc prius ig- 
naris pastoribus ille creatns | eni- 
tuit, quia pastor erat ; 1. 6 note. 

palam goes so closely with Jit as 
virtually to form one compound 
verb ; Roby § 2027. 

29. Mt. ii. I f, To avoid the 



lengthening of -is in kostis and the 
shortening of the first syllable of 
Herodes ('H/jwStjj) Erasmus emended 
to Herodis hostes, and the modern 
Roman breviary reads crudelis He- 
rodes Deum I regent.... But metrical 
liberties may be taken with foreign 
proper names ; 11. 2 note ; and 
Sedulius' prosody was not that of 
Horace. 

31. Similarly in the account of 
the Temptation, Carm. 11. J91 f. 
scilicet ut fragilis regna ad/ectaret 
honoris \ qui populis aeterna parat ! 

eripit is contrasted with dot, 
mortalia with caelestia. 

33. ' The wise men went their 
way (to Bethlehem), following the 
lead of the star, by means of which 
they had come ' (to Jerusalem). 
This is better than ' taking the same 
road to Bethlehem by which they 
had entered Jerusalem,' Daniel l. 
148. The relative qua precedes the 
word stellam to which it refers. The 
reading of the later Mss quam uide- 
rant comes from Mt. ii. 9. 

35. They seek the true light (cp. 
3. 3 f.) by the light of the star. 



154 



EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 



lumen requirunt lumine, 35 

Deum fatentur munere. 

Katerua matrum personal 

conlisa deflens pignora, 

quorum tyrannus milia 

Christo sacrauit uictimam. 40 

Lauacra puri gurgitis 
caelestis agnus attigit; 
peccata qui mundi tulit 
nos abluendo sustulit. 

38 deflet Mk. 40 uictima Er Hb. 41 lauacrum Ex^ Habce^fg 

Id'hm. 42 attingit Ibm'. 43 quae non detulit Bb Easx0 Fk'^v 

Gb Hg Ibdgmnv Mkm. 



36. mnnere] i.e. by the frankin- 
cense ; Carm. II. 96 tura dedere Deo. 

37. Katerua is so spelled on 
account of the alphabetic sequence ; 
see the corresponding stanzas of 71, 
89 and 120. 

personat] ' cry out ' ; cp. Jer. 
xxxi. 7 personate et canite et dictte. 

38. deflens] 'weeping for them 
as dead,' the regular use of the 
word, as at Fort. iv. vi. 17 non 
decet hunc igitur ucuuis dejlere que- 
rellis ; but cp. 42. 46. 

pignora] 'children,' 30. 3 note; 
Carm. 11. 113 trepidaeque uocant 
sua pignora fetae \ nequiquam. 

39. For the exaggeration in milia 
see 1. 17 note. 

40. uictimam as at 24. 6 is a 
collective singular, here in apposi- 
tion with milia. Burmann's conjec- 
ture uictimas is unnecessary. 

41. lauacra] see 26. -2 note. 

puri] ' cleansed ' by Christ's bap- 
tism therein ; cp. the parallel pas- 
sage Carm. 1 1. 159 sanctoque li- 
quentes \ corpore mundauit latices. 
But as Sedul. at times copies Ju- 
vencus, it is possible that he here 
means 'cleansing,' cp. Juvenc. ill. 
680 nuper Johannes, puro qui gur- 
gite lauit \ sordentes populi maculas; 
cp. 26. 6 note. 



gurgitis is used of any great 
volume of water (at 44. 6 of a flood 
of light) with no idea here of a 
rushing stream, — though Jordan 
means 'the rusher,' — as is shewn 
by Carm. II. 141 placidatn lordanis 
ad undam, Op. ili. 7 quieti gur- 
gitis. 

43. peccata qui mundi tulit, 
'who took upon Him the sins of the 
world,' is attested by few Mss but 
these the best and oldest. It is 
borrowed from 4. 3 1 , and, like agnus 
in 42, is of course based on Joh. i. 
29. In favour of this reading is the 
fact that Sedulius brings this biblical 
passage into connexion with Christ's 
baptism both at Carm. 11. 148 f. 
agnus I ecce Dei ueniens peccatum 
toller e mundi, and at Op. 11. 12 ecce 
agnus Dei, qui tollit peccatum mundi, 
cum dicit tollit, ostendit eum non 
habere quod tollit, quod quidem tulit, 
non ut ipse gereret sed ut ipse deper- 
deret. The variant peccata quae non 
detulit has on its side the great mass 
of MSS, some of them fairly old. In 
its favour perhaps are the phrases of 
the parallel passages Carm. 11. 159 
ipse nihil quod per dat habens. Op. 
11. 12 Dominus lesus Christus, hu- 
mani gentis delicta suscipiens non 
tenuit sed fugauit. If that reading 



HYMN XXX I. SEDULIUS 

Miraculis dedit fidem 
habere se Deum patrem, 
infirma sanans corpora 
at suscitans cadauera. 

Nouum genus potentiae ! 
aquae rubescunt hydriae, 
uinumque iussa fundere 
mutauit unda originem. 

Orat salutem seruulo 
nixus genu centurio ; 
credentis ardor plurimus 
exstinxit ignes febrium. 



155 
45 



50 



55 



45-48 om. Ih Mk. 48 resuscitans (jiro et s.) Fs Idgn Vs. 

50 aqua Fv Iv. 55 plurimos Fs Vs(r. 



were adopted, peccata must, it ap- 
pears, be taken as ace. after sustulit, 
' He took away the sins.' abltundo 
would then be not strictly a gerund, 
but used, as at 21. 11, participially, 
'washing us, not Himself.' 

For tulit used as the perfect of 
toller e see 4. 31 note. 

sustulit] ' raised us up.' 

45. fidem] ' proof,' as at 12. 14 
note. For the general sense of the 
stanza cp. 1. 22 f., 4. 25 f. 

46. Joh. V. 36. 

47. infirma] 'sick,' 'ill,' as at 
Mt. X. 8 etc. sanare is also a Vul- 
gate word, Mt. iv. 23 etc. 

50 f. ' The water-pots redden and 
the stream bidden to pour forth 
wine has changed its nature.' 

rubescunt] See 8. 1 7 note. 

hydriae] Joh. ii. 5f., 8. 13 note. 

52. unda] Cp. Carm. in. 5 
mutauit laeta saporem \ unda suum 
largita mertim; Op. III. i amise- 
runt aquae quod natae sunt, aquis 
indigentes ad potutn, undaque nobi- 
lior facta qua??i genita colorem pari- 
ter mutauit et nomen. 

orig^em] ' its original nature ' ; 
cp. Carm. II. 238 iam fratres nos 



esse decet nee origine camis \ ger- 
manum tractare odium; Fort. il. 
xi. 5 traxit origo necem de semine, 
sed pater orbis \ purgatiit medicis 
critnina mortis aquis. Somewhat 
similar is Jude 6 angelos uero, qui 
non seruauerunt suum p>rincipatum. 
The line is borrowed by (not from, 
as Daniel iv. 11) 91. 12. 
53 f. Mt. viii. 5 f. 

54. nixus genu] 'kneeling'; cp. 
Ov. Met. viii. 182, Juvenc. IV. 647 
turn genibus nixi regem dominumque 
salutant. We are not told in the 
Gospels that the centurion knelt. 
centurio is read by accent, not by 
quantity. 

55. Mt. viii. 13. ardor and ex- 
stinxit placed thus side by side form 
an oxymoron ; cp. Op. !!• 35 gelidis 
ardebat periclis. Probably Sedulius 
has in mind 9. 2 1 hie ignis exstinguit 
fidem. 

56. ignis is used of disease at 
VeVg. Georg. ill. 566 contaclos artus 
sacer ignis edebat. 

febrium] plural for singular. No 
' fever ' is specially mentioned in the 
Gospel story. 



156 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

Petrus per undas ambulat 

Christ! leuatus dextera ; 

natura quam negauerat, 

fides parauit semitam. 60 

Quarta die iam fetidus 
uitam recepit Lazarus, 
mortisque liber uinculis 
factus superstes est sibi. 

Riuos cruoris torridi 65 

contacta uestis obstruit ; 
fletu rigante supplicis 
arent fluenta sanguinis. 

Solutus omni corpore, 

iussus repente surgere, 70 

suis uicissim gressibus 

aeger uehebat lectulum. 

61 quarto Mk. 65 riuum Fv. 66 a tactu {pro cont. ) Fk. 67 fletus 
Fsv Vs. rigantis Fsv Vs, rigantes Mk. supplices Mk. 68 clausit (pro 
arent) Fsv Vstr. 69 solutos Bb, solutis Fv, solutum Fk. languore 

(pro Corp.) Fk. 70 iussit Fk. 72 laeti uehebant lectulos Bb. 

57. Mt. xiv. 28f. In the parallel 65 f. Mt. ix. ^of. 

passages of both Carm. and Op. 66. contacts uestis] ' the touch 

Sedulius describes the calming of of the garment. ' 

the tempest instead of this incident 67. W^xt^X^o fletu rigante... arent 

of Peter walking on the sea. form an oxymoron; cp. Carm. ill. 

6 if. Joh. xi. 123 f. posteritisque latens subitam 

quarta die] 'on the fourth day' furata salutem \ ex tr etna de ueste 

after death, Joh. xi. 39. rapit siccisqtie jliientis \ damnauit 

64. superstes... sibi] lit. 'surviv- patulas andax fiducia 7ienas. 

ing himself.' Carm. iv. 289 f. (of 69 f. Mt. ix. if. 'A man relaxed 

Lazarus) postque sepulcralem tarn- in all his limbs,' being paralysed. 

quam recreatus honorem \ ipse sibi 7 1 . suis] emphatic ; until then 

moriens et postumus exstat et heres ; he had been carried. 

KvcCox.de Excessu Fratris 15 quid uicissim] 'by way of change'; 

agam, mei successor heredis? quid Carm. iv. 198 subito mundata 

agam, meae uitae superstes? Cp. uicissim | mirafitur sua membra 

Prud. Perist. IV. 115 sola tu morti uiri. 

propriae superstes \ uiuis in orbe ; 73. camifez] Judas is so called 

Fort. Vit. Mart. I. 176 (of a dead because he brought about Christ's 

man raised to life by Martin) ipse death. At Rome the carnifex exe- 

iterum post se uiuens, idem auctor et cuted only slaves and foreigners, and 

heres. the office was looked upon as most 



HYMN XXXI. SEDULIUS 



157 



Tunc ille ludas carnifex 

ausus magistrum tradere 

pacem ferebat osculo, 75 

quam non habebat pectore. 

Verax datur fallacibus, 

pium flagellat impius, 

crucique fixus innocens 

coniunctus est latronibus. 80 

Xeromyrram post sabbatum 

quaedam ferebant compares, 

quas adlocutus angelus 

uiuum sepulchre non tegi. 

73 ludas ille Fv. 75 quaerebat Bb. 76 qui Fk^ gerebat Fv Mk. 
80 coniungitur Mk. 82 uehebant Mk Vso-. corpori (pro compares) Fksv 
Mk Vsff. 83 quos Vs. adloquuntur angeli Mk. 84 sepultus Vir. 



degrading, so that the name was 
one of contumely. 

75. Sedulius may have in mind 
Ambr. in Ps. xxxv. 14 (also of 
Judas) oscula labiis ferebat, offtm- 
debat uenena pectoribus ; meditabatur 
acerba supplieia, gratiae pigntis 
afferebat; in Ps. xxxix. 17 iiene- 
nuin infundis osculo, quo gratia 
caritatis infunditur ; osculo, quod 
sacrae pacis insigne est ; in Luc. X. 
63 amoris pignore uuluus injigis et 
caritatis officio sanguinem ftttidis et 
pacis instrumento mortem inrogas? 
Hex. VI. 68 caritatis insigne con- 
uertens cuf signuin proditionis et 
infidelitatis indicium, pacis hoc pig- 
nore uteris ad officinafu critdelitatis. 
Cp. Sedul. Carm. v. 66 quid socium 
simulas et arnica fraude salutas. 
For the general sense Ps. liv. (Iv.) 
22. 

uerax] See 17. i note. 

Mt. xxvii. 26. 

innocens] Cp. 1. 39. 

Mt. xxvii. 38. 
81. xeromyrrham] 'dried myrrh,' 
in which condition it was exported 
and sold, being originally the gum 
resin from a shrub which grows in 
south-west Arabia. It would be 



77- 
78. 

79- 

80. 



the chief ingredient in the spices 
brought by the women, Lk. xxiii. 
56, xxiv. I. So Prud. Cath. xil. 71 
{of the gifts of the magi) myrreus | 
puluis sepulcrum praedocet. The 
word xeromyrrha is not found else- 
where and has caused much search- 
ing of heart. Arevalus suggests 
Christo fnyron, but surely this 
would not have been thus altered in 
the Mss. Huemer conjectures chiro- 
myrrham or ckeromyron, referring 
to Corssen Aussprache ll. 517 for 
the accent of the newly formed 
word. 

82. compares] 'comrades,' an 
unusual word, whence the variant 
corpori. 

83. Mt. xxviii. 2 f. The variant 
adloquuntur angeli is a correction 
due to the fact that Lk. (who alone 
mentions the spices) speaks of 
'two men,' xxiv. 4. Probably ad- 
locutus has the further meaning of 
consoling here and at 117. 17. 
Ronsch quotes an example of adlo- 
quebantur as a translation of irapa- 
IxvdoiiiJievoi — consolaiantur of Vul- 
gate at Joh. xi. 31. 

84. tegi] as at 36. 39, 42. 



158 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



86 subditi Fks Vso", 
88 uenditos Fk. 



85. Ps. xciv. (xcv.) I. 

yinnis] Latin had no y, and ex- 
cept in some dialects the Greek v 
was always aspirated at the be- 
ginning of a word, so that a liberty 
had to be taken if this letter was to 
take its place in an alphabetical 
sequence. At the corresponding 
stanzas of Hilary's second Hymn 
wc find Ymnos, Zelauit. This dif- 
ficulty no doubt accounts for the 
fact that several alphabetical hymns 
do not go beyond T, as 71 and 
(probably) 89. 

86 f. At line 26 the angels pro- 
claim the birth of God into this 
world, here we are able to proclaim 
the destruction of the powers of 
hell. 



Ytnnis uenite dulcibus, 85 

omnes canamus subditum 
Christi triumpho tartarum, 
qui nos redemit uenditus. 

Zelum draconis inuidi 

et OS leonis pessimi 90 

calcauit unicus Dei, 

seseque caelis reddidit. 

87 Christo Fk. triumphum nobilem Fs Vs<r. 



triumpho] perhaps = frwn; cp.4. 

17- 
taxtarum] 23. 11 note. 

88. uenditus] viz. by Judas, 
sharply contrasted with redemit. 
The line is imitated at 40. 36. 

89. zelum] See Wisd. ii. 24. 
Cp. Prud. Hamart. 188 (of the 
devil) arsit enim scintilla odii de 

/ofnite zeli; 89. 24. 

draconis] Ps. xc. (xci.) 13 con- 
culcabis leonem et draconem. 12. 26 
note. 

inuidi] 3. 14, 6. 27 etc. 

90. leonis] 32. 16. 

pessimi] Note the use of the 
superlative where the positive might 
stand. We shall have other instances 
of this, as at 40. 25, 69. 12 etc. 



V. MAGNUS FELIX ENNODIUS 

Hymn 32 

Magnus Felix Ennodius was born at Aries A.D. 473, 
but at an early age settled in upper Italy, where he 
taught rhetoric. He took orders, became a deacon of 
Milan, and in A.D. 513 was consecrated bishop of Ticinum 
(now Pavia). In 515 and again in 517 he was sent by 
pope Hormisda as ambassador to the court of Anastasius, 
the emperor of the East, in order to bring about a recon- 
ciliation of the eastern and western churches, in which he 
was not successful. He died in 521. 

Ennodius was a man of marked ability and rhetorical 
power \ but no poet Amongst his works are twelve 
hymns, which he wrote avowedly in imitation of those by 
Ambrose", but by no means equal to them in merit. 
They were too artificial, antithetical and difficult to come 
into general use. Only one MS now extant contains them 
all (Brussels 9845-7, of the IXth century), but individual 
hymns of Ennodius were used in various churches, as is 
shewn by the presence of one or two of them in such 
hymnals as are quoted in the critical notes to the follow- 
ing Ascension-hymn, Iain Christiis ascendit polum. 

^ See Bucheler Anthol. Lat. II. i. p. 643 Florianus abbas mortuum 
Ennodium Idudat. facundiam non solum testatiir oecidms sed et orints 
miratur. 

^ Ennod. Carm. I. vi. 39 cantem quae solitus, dum pUbetn pasceret ore, 
Ambrosius uates carmina pulchra loqui. 



i6o 



EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 



4 ruet Be. 
7 exitus Icefn Vc. 



Be Fls Icefn Vcos 

lam Christus ascendit polum, 
necauit ante funera : 
letum sepultus expulit: 
mors mortis impulsu ruit. 

cantate factum, saecula ; 
funus subegit tartarum, 
uicit peremptus exitum ; 
sors inde luget pallida, 

6 subiecit Fl Icefn Vcos. 
8 mors Be* lefh Vcs. 



tartari FI lefn Vc. 



2. In this and the following lines 
the one idea, that Christ's death has 
destroyed death, is ingeniously ex- 
pressed in several different ways. 
How much simpler and more effec- 
tive are Hilary's niorte camis quam 
gerebat mortem uicit ofunium, 1. 40, 
and mors, te peremptam sentis lege 
sum tua, Deum cum cernis suhdidisse 
te tibi, and Ambr.'s reddatque mors 
uitam nouam, 10. 24 and the lines 
that follow, which Ennod. here has 
in mind. 

funera is plural for singular, as 
often in Verg. e.g. Aen. ix. 486 nee 
te tua funera mater produxi. 

4. ' Death has fallen (or fell) at 
the onset of death.' mortis incursu 
= incursu sua or propria. The in- 
cursus would answer to the irruis 
in Hil. Hymn. 11. 12 Deique tota 
uiui in corpus irruis. 

5. The world at large is appealed 
to, as at 6. 7, 38. i, 31, 39. 32. 

6f. peremptus] 'one slain.' 
exitus is a poor synonym for mors. 

8. The identification of sors with 
death, as is proved by the epithet 
pallida (cp. Hor. Od. i. iv. 13 pal- 
lida mors) and by the use of the 
verb praesumpsit, is remarkabje; 
cp. Ennod. Carm. 11. v. i Rustica, 
perpeltiae non te sors pallida uitae sus- 
tulit, interitum nee tibi viorte dedit. 
Bueheler Anthol. Lat. 1336. 1 sors 



tibi sub teneris Atgentea contigit 
annis ; where Schrader needlessly 
conjectures mors. Other writers 
constantly connect sors with the end 
of life, as Sedul. Carm. iv. 130, 
272, Fort. II. v. I, V. ii. 69; but 
they do not -actually identify the 
two things. 

inde answers to unde in 9. The 
use of these words to express cause 
and effect is very common in late 
Latin writers; see e.g. 33. 9, Sedul. 
Carm. 11. 26 f. ut unde \ culpa dedit 
mortem pietas daret inde salute m. 

In antiphonal singing the over- 
lapping of the sense from one stanza 
to the next, as here and in 28, 29 
below, must have been awkward. 
See Bede de Arte Metrica 1 1 hym- 
nos ttero, quos choris alternantibus 
canere oportet, necesse est singulis 
uersibus ad purum esse distinctos. 
But when he goes on to say, ut sunt 
omnes ambrosiani, he ignores the 
fact that in some of Ambr.'s own 
hymns the sense is continued from 
stanza to stanza, as in the commence- 
ments of 2, 3, 5 etc., though not so 
markedly as in the present case. 

9. praesumpsit] ' enjoyed in an- 
ticipation.' Cp. Hil. Hymn. il. 15 
kanc sumis ante pompam tanti p>roe- 
Hi I sputus flagella ictus cassa 
harundinis ; and for the sense of 
the following lines Prud. Hamart. 



HYMN XXXIL ENNODIUS 



i6i 



praesumpsit unde gaudium. 
escis uorator captus est, 
est praeda raptor omnium ; 
iam rete uinctum ducitur. 
iacet catena in nexibus ; 
serpens uenena protulit ; 
mitis terit superbiam, 
agnus leonem euiscerat. 



lO 



15 



10 escae Fl Icfn Vc. 12 rite lefn Vcos. uinctus Fl Icefn Vos. 

13 catenae Icefn Vco. om. in Ic. 14 proferens Fl Icefn Vcos. 

15 mites Be. teret Be, teri Vs. 



Pfoef. 2^ Jinita et ipsa est finis ex- 
sortem pet ens; Fort. \\. vii. 43 f. 
hue captitia cubas, quo te regnare 
put abas: \ inuoitendo peris teque fu- 
rendo necas. \ te tua poena premit, 
tua te /era uincula torquent, \ quos 
dare ius gemitus ipsaferendogemis. 

10 f. Here again the one thought 
is elaborately diversified. With line 
10 cp. 10. 25, with 12 cp. 10. 26. 
Biicheler Ant hoi. Lat. 1391. i post- 
quam, mors, Christi pro nobis niorte 
peristi, in Domini fainulos nil tibi 
iuris erit. 

r2. ducitur is used as at 1. 33 
(note). 

13. catena] Cp. 37. 15, 111. 8; 
also 36. 45, Prud. Cath. XI. 47, 
Perhaps the ref. is to such a passage 
as Acts ii. 24, Ps. xvii. (xviii.) 6. 
It is a triumph over death rather 
than over Satan that E. has in 
mind. 

14. protulit is the reading of the 
best MS, and proferens of the later 
ones is in its favour. But how to take 
it ? Can it mean ' has cast forth ' 
its venom and so lost its pt)wer of 
harming? Hartel conjectured pro- 
pulit, comparing Ennod. Carm. 11. 
vii \serpens aenetis in cruce\ Occisor 
mortis, dux uitae, planta salutis ! 
aspice nam serpens ecce uenena fu- 
gat, I et quod supplicii species et 
mortis imago \ iam fuerat miseris, 
est mihi certa solus. In this case the 
serpent is Christ ; cp. Smith Diet. 



Chr. Antiquities 1890, Ambr. de 
Spir. III. 50; and propulit means 
'has banished.' But line 14 seems 
to be parallel to 13, and if so ser 
pens must refer to Satan, as at 26 
1 7 and often. Vogel suggests per 
tulit, ' has had to endure, ' cp. 31 
21, 34. 31, 38. 17. It is just pos 
sible that the writer of the Brussels 
MS meant to v/nie perfulit here, for 
some Mss use the form ^ for per, 
though it usually stands for pro; 
see Maunde Thompson Latin and 
Greek Palaeography p. 224. 

It will be seen that the later 
copyists entirely missed the meaning 
of the passage, correcting to iacet 
catenae in nexibus serpens uenena 
proferens. In like manner they re- 
write 18 f. quod nostra sanctus in- 
duens, \ ueste serui absconditus, \ nos 
ad triumphum prouehit, \ quam si e 
coruscis sedibus \ reos terreret ful- 
gure, I Deus patens per omnia. 

15. Gen. iii. 15 ipsa conteret 
caput tuum ; Levit. xxvi. 1 5 con- 
teram superbiam ; Is. xxviii. 3 con- 
culcabitur corona superbiae. The 
line is imitated at 81. i r. 

16. agnus] 1. 5. 
leonem] 3. 14 note. 

Verg. Aen. XI. 723 uses euiscerat 
of a hawk tearing a dove to pieces 
in order to devour it. Ambr. Hex. 
V. 47 (birds of ^xey) praedam...tiel 
ore uel unguibus euiscerare. 



1 62 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



plus istud est potentiae, 

quod nostra, sancte, suscipis 

et ueste serui absconditus 

nos ad triumphum prouehis, 20 

quatn si e coruscis sedibus 
reos terreres fulgore, 
Deus patens per omnia 
nullo remotus tegmine. 

18 Christe {j>ro sancte) Be'', sanctus Icefn^ Vcos, Christus In', induens 
{pro susc.) Fl Ifn Vcos. 19 om. et Fl Icefn Vcs. seruili ueste Vo 

(seruuli u. Vs). absconditur Vo, abditus Vs. 20 prouehes Be, prouehit 
Fl Icefn Vcos. 21 om. e Bc^. haec (pro si e) Vs. 22 reos terreret 

fulgure Fl Icefn (fulgore Vos), reos terreres fulgure Vc. 23 deum Fl 

le. patet Be, potens Ic. 24 renatus In. 



1 7 f. ' This displays more power 
of Thine, that Thou, O holy one, 
takest our nature and hidden in the 
garb of a slave carriest us on to 
triumph, than if from Thy dazzling 
abode Thou shouldest scare the 
guilty with Thy brightness, com- 
pletely revealed to us as God sepa- 
rated by no veil.' 

1 7. est is often used in Latin, as 
here, where we expect a more ex- 
pressive verb. 

istud has its strict connexion 
with the 2nd person, which is lost 
by the correction of the later MSS 
reading sanctus and pro7>ehit. 

18. Cp. Te Deum 18 tu...susce- 
pisti [suscepiurus) hominem, 42. 25 
crucem...suscipere. nostra in this 
sense is frequent enough : e.g. Leo's 
'Tome' § 3 totus in suis, totus in 
nostris. 

sancte is the original reading 
of the Brussels MS, as satictus of all 
the others. Sanctus as an appellation 
of Christ is found Acts iii. 14, 1. 37, 
41. 48, 42. 61, 46. 16 ; cp. the hke 
use oi hagius 41. 49, 44. 17, 84. 21. 
Christe in the MS is to be regarded 
as a gloss rather than as a correc- 
tion. 

19. serul] Phil. ii. 7. 



absconditus] ' hidden,' ' dis- 
guised,' possibly from Satan ; cp. 
Ignat. Eph. XIX. i tXaBev rbv dp- 
Xovra Tov aluvos tojjtov t/ irapdevia. 
Ma/Mas Kol 6 TOKerbs avrrjs, ofxoiu^ 
Kai 6 dcwaros tov Kvplov : Commo- 
dian /ipo/. 313 obrepsit Dominus 
ueleri latroni celatus ; Ambr. Hex. 
II. 3 ut uirginitas Mariae Jalleret 
principem mundi. But the 7-eos in 
22 seems to make this interpretation 
of absconditus rather too definite and 
restricted. * 

22. fulgore is a poetical form 
which troubled the later copyists, 
who thought that the sense oi ful- 
gure was wanted. Here it means 
' with all thy flashing brightness ' ; 
cp. 2 Thess. ii. 8. 

23. It will be seen that I have 
taken the patens of the later MSS, 
for patet of an earlier one. If we 
read patet we must put a full stop at 
the end of 22, and translate 'He is 
completely revealed to us as God,' 
viz. by His resurrection. But this 
abrupt sentence does not suit the 
context. 

per omnia] 'entirely,' 'in all 
respects'; see 6. 31 from which 
this line is imitated. 



HYMN XXXII. ENNODIUS 



163 



sed ut iacentes erigat, 
dignatus esse quod sumus, 
redemit ipse ius suum, 
ouem reduxit perditam 

pastoris ad custodiam. 
leuate portas, angeli ! 
intrat tremendus arbiter 
maior tropaeis hostium. 

28 reuixit Be. 



25 



27 redimit Be, redimens Vs. 
31 intret Fl leefn Vcos. 

25. Cp. Ps. cxlv. (cxlvi.) 8 Do- 
minus erigit elisos ; 38. 28. 

26. Cp. 38. 23, 87. 9f. 

27. ' He has Himself redeemed 
His own possession.' We were His 
and yet He bought us back. Cp. 
Sedul. Can/1. 111. 308 tunc praedo 

furens ac noxius hostis, cut possessa 
diu est alieni fabrica iuris...\ id. 
(p. 2 ed. Huemer) fabricam sui 
iuris. 

28. Lk. XV. 4f. The line is bor- 
rowed 99. 8. 

29. For the overlapping of the 
sense into another stanza, see the 
note on line 8. 

30. Ps. xxiii. (xxiv.) 7. 



30 



29 pastores Be. 



31. Intrat is more vigorous than 
intret of the later Mss, and goes 
better with the indicatives of 27, 28. 

arbiter] prob. in the wide sense 
of ' sovereign,' as there is no ref. to 
judgment in the context. 

32. 'greater by reason of the 
trophies won from 'the enemy.' Cp. 
the like abl. Hor. Od. in. v. 39 
Carthago .. .altior Italiae ruinis. [It 
is not improbable, however, that 
hostium is only another spelling for 
ostium, governed by intrat. ostium 
is the Vulgate word in John x, 
which would suit the allusion in 
28 f.] 



VI. VENANTIUS HONORIUS 
CLEMENTIANUS FORTUNATUS 

Venantius Honorius Clemen tianus Fortunatus, 'the 
last of the Roman poets,' as Leo well describes him, was 
born about A.D. 530 not far from Ravenna. In or about 
his 35th year he suffered from ophthalmia and rubbed the 
ailing eye with some oil from a lamp that hung before a 
picture of St Martin of Tours in one of the churches of 
Ravenna. This healed the eye, whereupon he resolved 
to shew his gratitude by making a pilgrimage to the 
saint's grave at Tours, He travelled through Germany 
and Austrasia, making friends wherever he went and 
paying his hosts by poetical compliments, for he was 
before everything a minstrel. At last he reached his 
destination, but soon set forth once more, again as a 
minstrel ' courted and caressed, high placed in ball a 
welcome guest,' going from place to place through the 
greater part of Gaul. Among other cities he visited 
Poitiers, where queen Radegundis, — wife of the brutal 
Frankish king Clotaire I, from whom she had separated, — 
had established a convent in company with her adopted 
daughter Agnes. Here Fortunatus settled down, became 
the intimate friend of the two ladies, and was ordained 
priest. A year or two before the close of the century he 
became bishop of Poitiers, where he lived until his death, 
which befel him soon after A.D. 600. 

Of his great poetical gift there can be no question, in 
spite of the fact that again and again he shews traces of 
the decadent taste of his times. And between his best and 
his worst work there is a very wide gulf Some of his 



HYMN XXXIII. FORTUNATUS 165 

shorter occasional pieces, — and most of his poems are of 
an occasional character, — are almost frivolous, while his 
praises of barbaric kings and nobles indulge in exaggera- 
tion and flattery. But his hymns, especially the first two 
printed here, 33 and 34, rise to supreme excellence. They 
combine a deep sincerity and a fervor of poetic feeling and 
religious thought with high dignity, strength and skill of 
expression. They are indeed models of what Christian 
hymns should be. For his love of nature and his eminent 
power of interpreting her various aspects see the intro- 
duction to 36. 

Fortunatus was highly esteemed as a poet by his con- 
temporaries and by later writers. Thus Paul the Deacon 
says of him de Gestis Longobard. II. 13 uersiculos, nulli 
poetaruDi secundus, suaui et diserto sermone composuit; 
and he wrote an epitaph for his tomb in six distichs, the 
first two of which run thus : 

Ingenio clarus, sensu celer, ore suauis, 
cuius dulce melos pagina multa canit. 

Fortunatus apex uatum, uenerabilis actu, 
Ausonia genitus ha£ tumulatur humo. 

Hymn 33 
This noble hymn was certainly written by Fortunatus, 
for not only is it handed down among his collected 
works, but it abounds in his characteristic thoughts and 
phrases. It is in favour of this view that the hymn bears 
traces of the influence of a hymn of Hilary, the pre- 
decessor of Fortunatus, two hundred years earlier, in the 
see of Poitiers 1. Nevertheless some writers, — as Sirmond, 
Ceillier and Pimont,— have given it to Claudianus Ma- 
mertus, a writer of southern Gaul who lived in the middle 
of the Vth century. Their grounds are these : 

1 ^Qejourn. of Theol. Studies vol. V. p. 249. 



i66 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

(i) Sidonius Apollinaris writing to Mamertus(J/i!7««w. 
Gertn. Ant. Vlll. 56) says, lam uero de hyimio tuo si 
percunctere quid sentiam, commaticus est, copiosus, dulcis, 
elatus, et quoslibet lyricos dithyrambos amoenitate poetica 
et historica ueritate superemifiet. Here there is no indica- 
tion that ours is the hymn spoken of. 

(2) In one MS of Gennadius' continuation of Jerome's 
work de Viris Illustribiis the hymn is assigned to Ma- 
mertus — evidently on the authority of some one copyist, 
not of Gennadius. See Endlicher's edition of Mamertus 
Corp. Script. Eccl. Lat. XI. p. ii scripsit et alia nonmdla, 
inter quae et hyninum de passione Domitti, cuius princi- 
pium est Pange lingua gloriosi. A like statement is made 

in a Xllth cent, MS of Mamertus. 

(3) The hymn is so good that it cannot have been 
written by Fortunatus or by any writer of his time. On 
this point opinions differ. In any case such subjective 
reasoning cannot stand against the facts of the case 
which contradict it. 

As to the occasion on which the hymn was composed, — 
for this, like the great majority of the poems of Fortunatus, 
is an occasional piece, — Radegundis had obtained from 
the emperor Justin and his consort Sophia a fragment of 
the holy Cross for her cloister at Poitiers, and she re- 
quested Fortunatus to write a triumphal ode with which 
to welcome the sacred relic. Gregory of Tours tells us 
with what splendid and festal joy this and other relics 
were welcomed in the cloister; Hist. Franc. IX. 40. So 
it seems that the Pange lingua (33), the Vexilla regis 
prodeunt (34), and the Crux benedicta nitet (35) were for 
the first time solemnly sung on November 19, A.D. 569. 

' The hymn very early came into extensive use and is 
found in most mediaeval Breviaries and Missals. In the 
older Roman (Venice 1478), Paris of 1643, Sarum, York, 



H YMN XXXIII. FOR TUNA TUS 1 67 

Aberdeen, and other Breviaries, it is appointed for use 
from Passion Sunday to Maundy Thursday; stanzas 
l-v being used at Mattins and vi-x beginning Lustra 
sex at Lauds. In the Roman, Sarum, and other Missals 
it is appointed to be used on Good Friday at the Impro- 
peria,... stanza viii crux fidelis being first sung by the 
clergy, or as a solo, then stanza l-vil, ix, x by the 
people ; each stanza being followed by either the first or 
second line of stanza VIII [i.e. crux fidelis or dulce lignum\ 
The Sarum, York, Aberdeen and other Breviaries also 
appointed stanzas vlii-x...for the festival of the Inven- 
tion of the Cross (May 3).' 

The above quotation is taken from Julian p. 880, 
where other interesting and valuable information is to be 
found. In Leo's edition of the poetical works of Fort, 
this hymn is the third poem of the second book. 

Bb Eahlnstvxi7/n Fbcefhkps/3 Gabm Hbd/Sy labcdefghnv Mi Vcs 

Pange, lingua, gloriosi proelium certaminis 

at super crucis tropaeo die triumphum nobilem, 

I linguam Mi. gloriose Bb. ^ tropaeum Evsm F/3 Hb/3 labceghn 

Vc. triumpho Es. nobile Bb Es Fc^ lag Mi Vc^ 

I. pange] 'sing,' as at Fort. V. what the proelium consisted, is 

V. 57 qiiod canna Dauitica pangit, what may be called an identical 

40. 34, 92. 23. In this sense the gen., like 84. 5 interitu mortis, 1. 

word is as old as Ennius. 50 candore claritatis. 

proelium] Cp. Hii. Hymn. 11 The first line of the famous /*ra«^^, 

ante pompam tanti proelii. Fort, is lingua, gloriosi corporis mysterium 

also thinking of Prud. Cath. IX. of Aquinas is of course imitated from 

84 f. die tropaeum passionis, die this. 

triumphalem crucem, \ pange uexil- 7. cmcis tropaeo] 'the trophy of 

luw, notatis quod refulget frontibus. (i.e. consisting in) the cross.' To a 

The modern Roman breviary alters Roman ear ' a trophy ' meant the 

the sense by reading lauream certa- spoils carried in the triumphal pro- 

minis on which Neale says (Afediae- cession (see 6. 26 note), which were 

val Hymns p. 4) ' It is not to the to remind the onlookers of the vic- 

glory of the termination of our tory. In a Christian procession the 

Lord's conflict with the devil that cross would do this ; Fort. .XI. i. 23 

the poet would have us look : but erux species tropaei est, quod deuictis 

to the glory of the struggle itself.' hostibus solet fieri triumphanti. 

gloriosi... certaminis, shewing in triomphom] In connexion with 



i68 



EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 



qiialiter redemptor orbis inmolatus uicerit. 

de parentis protoplast! fraude factor condolens, 
quando pomi noxialis morte morsu conruit, 5 

ipse lignum tunc notauit, damna ligni ut solueret. 

hoc opus nostrae salutis ordo depoposcerat, 
multiformis perditoris arte ut artem falleret 
et medellam ferret inde, hostis unde laeserat. 

4 parente Bb. facta Bb Eas/a Fe Gb Hbd labcdeghnv Vcs. 5 in 

(ante morte) lb. morsu morte Fj3, morsu in mortem En Hb* Ih (morsus 
in m. Iv) Vs, in morsu mortem Id, morte mors occubuit Bb Gm (m. m. 
hoccurruit Mi), morsu mors incubuit Fe (mortu m. i. la). 6 om. ipse 

Bb, ipsum Vs. ligno Fc. turn Fk. 8 multiformi E/u. proditoris Bb 

Eas/* Fh Gabm Hj3 Ibceghn Mi Vc. ars (p7-o arte) Ens/t Fhk H7 Idg'hv 
Vs^ uinceret Eh. 



super cruets tropaeo it would be 
simplest to regard triumphum as 
CfjSV iirivlKiov, if any authority for 
this rendering had been forthcoming. 
In the absence of such authority, 
we must take it to be 'the triumph' 
itself, die being used as at Hor. Od. 
I. xxi. I Dianam tenerae dicite uir- 
gines. 

trimnplium nobilem] 13. 3, 34. 
38. 

3. qiialiter]oneofFort.'sfavourite 
words, e.g. at III. x. 25, xxii. 9, 
xxvi. 8. 

r. orbis] 23. 15. 

inmolatus uicerit placed side by 
side form a sharp contrast. The 
victim was the conqueror. Aug. 
Con/. X. 69 uictor ei uictima, et 
ideo uictor, quia uictima. 

4 f. ' The Creator grieving at the 
harm wrought to (or ' by ') the first 
man, when by the bite of the fatal 
apple he fell in death. Himself even 
then marked a tree, in order to 
undo the damage caused by a tree.' 
A legend, which Fort, appears to 
have in mind here and at 34. 17 f., 
told how that the cross came from 
the tree in the Garden of Eden, a 
shoot of which was brought out by 
Adam and planted by Seth. The 



tree which grew from this was 
destroyed in the deluge, but a twig 
of it was saved by Noah ; see Kayser 
I. p. 407. Cp. Commodian Apol. 
^ 1 7 per quod hominem prostrauerat 
morte malignus, \ ex ipso deuictus ; 
ih. 323 mors fuit in ligno et in ligno 
uita latehat, \ quo Deus pependit 
Dominus ; Ambr. in Ps. XXXV. 3 
paradisum nobis crux reddidit 
Christi. hoc est lignum quod Adae 
Dominus demonstrauit ; Poetcu aeui 
Carolini p. 78 (ed. DUmmler) Adam 
per lig7tum mortem deduxit in orbem, 
per lignum pepulit Christus ab orbe 
necem. 

protoplast!] Cp. 23. 22. Cp. for 
the general sense Fort. x. ii. 2 habet 
hoc insitum natura praeuaricatione 
protoplasti parentis ad nos decursa 
morte mult at a, ut saepe quod uix 
adquiritur mox linquatur ; serpentis 
inueterati dens a radice sic perculit, 
ut nee arbor steterit quin stirpe 
mortis fixa uiuat; ib. ix. ii. if. 
aspera condicio et sors inreuocabilis 
horae ! quod generi humano tristis 
origo dedit, cum suadens coluber 
proiecit ab ore uenenum, morsu et 
serpentis mors fuit Eua nocens : 
sumpsit ab ipso ex tunc Adam patre 
terra dolorem, et de matre gemens 



HYMN XXXIII. FORTUNATUS 



169 



quando uenit ergo sacri plenitudo temporis, 10 

missus est ab arce patris natus, orbis conditor, 
atque uentre uirginali carne factus prodiit 

uagit infans inter arta conditus praesepia, 

13 positus (/r0 conditus) 



12 caro E/x Fi Hbd^^ Ibcdenv Vcs«, 
E^ Gm. 

mundtts amara capit. praeuaricando 
duo probro damnatittir acerbo : ille 
labore dolet, haec generando gemit. 

factor] Cp. 1. 8, 30. 30. 

5. morte] 'in death.' Fort, 
favours this abl. ; cp. came in 12, 
and 34. 3. 

7. hoc opus] (used as at 10. 13) 
viz. the reparation by means of the 
cross of the bane wrought by the 
tree of knowledge. 

ordo] ' the plan.' 

depoposcerat] ' had demanded ' 
in the everlasting counsel of the 
Father. Cp. Vit. Mart. ii. 206 
ftituris ordo sui nostrae fuit arra 
salutts. 

8. arte] applied to the working of 
God as Aug. Conf. iv. 24 /« arte 
tua ; c. Faust. XXI. 5 ars diuina. 

' That by craft He might foil 
the craft of the many-shaped de- 
stroyer.' Satan appeared to Eve as 
a serpent, and ' fashioneth himself 
into an angel of light,' 2 Cor. xi. 14 ; 
cp. Prud. Cath. ix. 91 quid tibi 
profane serpens profuit, rebus iwuis j 
plasma primum perculisse uersipelli 
hortamine? Vit. Mart. ii. 132 f. 
For another application of the out- 
witting of Satan see Greg. Nyss. 
Or. Cat. 26. 

9. Inde, hostla] The hiatus is 
justified by the pause, and moreover 
Fort, constantly, though not con- 
sistently, treats initial A as a con- 
sonant, as e.g. Vit. Mart. 11, 341 
indicia sine hoc. 

liide...unde] Cp. Sedul. Carm. 
II. 26 ut unde \ culpa cL-dit mortem 
pi etas daret inde salutetn ; and see 
note on 32. 8. Possibly there is 
(in inde, unde) also a ref. to the 
locality of the cross. Ambr. in Luc. 



X. 114 ipse autem crueis locus... 
supra Adae (ut Hebraei disputant) 
sepulturam. congruebat quippe ut 
ibi uitae twstrae primitiae locarentur, 
ubi fuerant mortis exordia. 

10. plenitudo temporis] Gal. iv. 
4, Eph. i. 10; cp. Mk i. 15 'the 
time is fulfilled.' 

11. missus est] Cp. Job. iii. 17, 
vi. 57; Ambr. in Luc. vi. 13 oboe- 
diente pietate missus est in hunc 
mundum ; x. i missus a Patre, quia 
descendit de caelo pat emu m inple- 
turus arbitrium. 

ab arce patrts] Cp. 23. 26 ; 
Fort. I. xiv. I summus in arce Dei; 
V. iii. 44 regis in arce. Athanasius 
de Inc. 8 and other theologians had 
dwelt upon the fitness of our being 
redeemed by Him who had been the 
agent in our creation; cp. 36. 27 
conditor atque redemptor ; Diimmler 
Aloniim. Germ.\ Poetae lot. aeui 
Carol, p. 48 ut saluaret qtios creauit, 
carnem nostram induit. conditor is 
one of Fort, 's favourite words ; see 
34.3. 

12. came] 'in flesh'; for the 
abl. cp. note on 1. 5; i Pet. iii. 18 
mortificatus quidem came; Fort. 
VIII. iii. 86 qua caro came utnit; 
also I. iii. 8. /actus =' as a. creature,' 
— unless indeed we are to take came 

/actus as practically one word ^caro 
/actus. 

1 3 f. The omission of this whole 
stanza in some Mss may be due to a 
feeling that the story of the infancy 
is incongruous in a hymn celebrating 
the triumph of the cross. 

uagit] The wailing of the infant 
Jesus is not mentioned in scripture, 
but is often alluded to by Hilary, 
from whom perhaps Fort. Ixjrrows 



I/O EARLY LA TIN H YMNS 

membra pannis inuoluta uirgo mater adligat 

et pedes manusque, crura stricta pingit fascia, 1 5 

lustra sex qui iam peracta tempus inplens corporis, 
se uolente, natus ad hoc passioni deditus, 
agnus in crucis leuatur inmolandus stipite. 

14 conligat Bb. 15 manus pedesq. Es HbM Idehn Mi Vcs. pangit 

Fc', cingit Est;u F/3 Gb^ Mi Vcs, cinxit Ihv. 16 lustris E/it Hb* Ibcdv 

Vs. peractis E/n (peracti Ea) Hb^ Idv Vs. 17 uolentem Bb Ig' Mi. 

passione Fc (-nis Ig'). 18 crucem Eh, cruce Bb Es Gb'm Hb'/3 Ibcghv 
Mi Vcs, cruces Id^. leuatus Bb Es Gbm. immolatur Bb. stipitem En. 



it. Thus de Trin. II. 24 per concep- 
tionem, partum, uagitum, cunas ; 
ib. 27 infans ua^t, laudantes angeli 
auditintur; see Journ. of Theol. 
Studies Vv 430. Cp. also Cypr. Ep. 
XXXI. 3 uhi scura nati salttatoris 
infantia uagierat ; Ambr. in Luc. 
II. 41 nu illi infantiae uagi^ntis 
abluunt JUtus ; 42 infantis audis 
uagitus, non audis bouts Dominum 
agnoscentis mugitus; Prud. CcUh. 
XI. 61 uagitus iUe exordium \ uer- 
nantis orbis prodidit. 

inter] ' within ' is used for intra, 
the plural form praesepia lending 
itself to this construction. 

conditns] ' hidden.' See the note 
on praesepe at 6. 29. 

14 f. ' His virgin mother binds up 
His body wrapped in rags, yea His 
feet and hands ; the tight-drawn 
swathe marks His legs.' Lk. ii. 7. 
No doubt Fort, considered the 
binding of the infant limbs a pre- 
Sjige of the passion. 

pannis] 'in rags.' That this is 
the meaning of the word is shewn 
by many passages ; as Ter. Eun. 
236 squaliiium, aegrum, pannis an- 
nisque obsitttm ; Lact. Phoen. 19 
egestas obsita pannis ; Prud. Perist. 
II. 281 pannis uideres obsitos ; 
Alcuin de Clade Lindisfam. Afon- 
ast. 1 04 uix panno ueteri frigida 
membra tegit ; Juvenc. I. 1 56 
pueruin ueteri cunabula textu | in- 
uoluunt, duroque dalur praesepe 
cubili. The panni are mentioned 
also 38. 20, 90. 10. The panni are 



constantly mentioned, is enhancing 
the contrast between the real ma- 
jesty and the apparent poverty. " 

15. manusque] The hands also 
were tied in, this being the eastern 
custom. 

stricta] used as at 1. 42. 

pingit] 'marks,' 'discolours' ; cp. 
Prud. Perist. in. 144 membraque 
picta cruore nouo \fonte cutem re- 
calente lauant; Fort. Vit. Mart. i. 
2^% pingit inaduersum signum cru- 
cis. The reading of the later Mss 
patigit is evidently due to the avoid- 
ance of what w'as found a difficulty. 

fascia] Cp. Quint, xi. iii. 144 
fasciis crura uestiiintur. 

r6. ' When thirty years were 
now accomplished.' lustra... peracta 
may be either ace. abs. (see Index) 
or the words may be in apposition 
with tempus. The reading of the 
later mss lustris... peractis is a cor- 
rection. Fort, is especially fond of 
expressing age by lustra, as here, 
e.g. IV. viii. 29. 

inplens] ' having fulfilled ' ; the 
pres. part, taking the place of the 
non-existent past part., as often. 
An extreme case of this is 5edul. 
Carm. III. 130 moriens ubi uirgo 
iacebai \ extremum sort it a diem ; 
see also 36. 31 cernens with the 
note. Fort, does not mean to say 
that Christ was crucified when just 
thirty years old, but only after the 
thirty years of Lk. iii. 23. 

tempos corporis] i.e. His life on 
earth, like Heb. v. 7 in diebus carnis 



HYMN XXXIII. FORTUNATUS 171 

hie acetum, fel, harundo, sputa, claui, lancea ; 

mite corpus perforatur; sanguis, unda profluit, 20 

terra, pontus, astra, mundus quo lauantur flumine. 
/ 

19 aceto Bb E/n Fch'i Gabm H/37 Ig'h. felle Mi. sputo Es Ga. clauis 
Bb£st Fhi Hd Ibcgn' Vc. 10 mitte Es Ih Mi, cum milite Bb Gb>, 

perforauit Fk. perfluit Et. 2 1 pondus Bb Mi. mundi Bb. 



suae; corporis being a gen. of the 
same kind as at 10. 14 poenam cor- 
poris; cp. 16; 10. 

17. se aolente] Is. liii. "j oblatus 
est quia ipse uoluit ; cp. Commod. 
Apol. 224 et patitur quomodo uoluit. 

. The abl. abs. referring to the subject 
of the sentence is a construction 
found in Cic. ad Fani. xvi. 26 non 
potes effugere huius culpae poenam 
te patrono; cp. Fort. I. v. 7 hie se 
nudato tunica uestiuit egenum ; 43. 
if. / 
n. ad hoc] i Tim. i. 15. 

18. liiBtipite] = iMj/'2;»/V(W/. Fort, 
is rather given to this usage, cp. e.g. 
III. xvii. 8 raptus in axe leuor; 
VIII. iv. 6 ducitiir in thalamis. 

inmolandus] The cross being the 
altar, a thought more fully brought 
out iri 109. 3f. ; cp. i Cor. v. 7. 
The gerundive is here -equivalent to 
a final clause [ut immolaretur), as 
1. 18 occulendus (note). 

19. acetum] Mt. xxvii. 48. fel, 
ib. 34. harundo, ib. 30, 48. sputa, 
ib. 30. claui, Joh. xx. 25. lancea. 
Job. xix. 34. Cp. Fort. XI. i. 21 
hinc multa prophetae, qualiter con- 
fixus in cruce foratis pedibus, aceto 
uel felle aut uitw murrato potatus, 
spitiis coronatus, lancea percussus ; 
Hil. Hymn. 11. 16 sputus, flagella, 
ictus, cassa harundinis. 

harundo probably refers both to 
the reed with which Christ was 
struck, — though this was not done 
at the cross itself, but neither do 
we read of sputa there, — and also 
to that on which the sponge was 
put. 

sputa] Some later MSS read stupa, 
by a slip in writing, though Pimont 



defends it as meaning ' the spoiige ' 
of Mt. xxvii. 48. 

lancea is probably nominative, 
like the. other words in the line. 
But it might be abl., as some editors 
punctuate : ' the gentle body is 
pierced by the lance,' cp. Joh. xix. 
34 unus militum lancea latus eius 
aperuit. 

The cumulatio, i.e. a string of 
words with no connecting particle, 
is a favourite usage of Fort.; take 
two examples out of many, 11. xii. 
13 carcere, ciede,fame, uinelis, site, 
frigore, flamma; vi. \a. 23 lingua, 
decus, uirtus, bonitas, mens, gratia 
pollent ; cp. 37. 9 f. 

20. san^niis, unda] In this and 
the following line, as at 34. .22, 37. 
2 f., Fort, is thinking of the conse-' 
cration of baptism by the cross. Cp. 
77. 10 quos mufidat unda, san- 
guinis ; 89. 3 baptisma cruce con- 
secrans ; and the prayer in the 
Baptismal Service ' Whose most 
dearly beloved Son, for the forgive- 
ness of our sins, did shed out of His 
most precious side both water and 
blood.' Prud. Cath. ix. 86 hinc 
cruoris fluxit unda, lympha parte 
ex altera: \ lympha nempe dat laua- 
crum, turn corona ex sanguine est. 

21. terra, pontus, astra] We 
have had this threefold division of 
the universe at 23. 6. Fort, often 
mentions it, as at iii. xxxiiia. 27, 
IX. viii. 7, XI. ii. 3 etc., cp. 39. i. 

mundus] ' the universe ' ; the 
whole, of which the three preceding 
words are the component parts ; cp. 
13. 29 note. All things, whether 
with or without life, are included, as 
by St Paul, Col. i. 20. 



172 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



crux fidelis, inter omnes arbor una nobilis, 
nulla talem silua profert, flore, fronde, germine ; 
dulce lignum dulce clauo dulce pondus sustinens. 

flecte ramos, arbor alta, tensa laxa uiscera, 
et rigor lentescat ille, quern dedit natiuitas, 
ut superni membra regis mite tendas stipite. 



25 



23 nullam Gb Mi. tale Es. silua talem Bb Eahnt Gam Hbd/3 Ibcdegh 
(tale In) Vcs. fronde flore (frondes f. Bb) Eahn Fhi Gm Hbd Icgh, frondes 
florem germinans Iv. 24 dulcem clauum Bb Fi (dulce cl. Em Fc Gb 

Mi) Ga H|3, dulces clauos Ent'' Fh^ Hbd Icdegnv Vcs (dulce cl. Ih), dulces 
claui Fk (dulce cl. Es Gm). sustines Hd7^ Vs, sustinent E/i Fk^ Gm, 
sustinet Es Fh Ga Hb Ig'hv Mi. 26 nitescat Es Mi. 27 et (pro ut) 
Bb Ga Mi. superna Bb. miti Fh Ibeg^n \'cs, mitte H/3 Mi, mitti Ig'v, 
mittite de stipite Es, mitendas Fc, mittenda sint Fk. tendis Mi, tendat Et, 
tendant Gm, extendant Bb. 



22. fidelis] 'faithrul,' in that this 
tree did its duty, accomplished what 
was expected of it, cp. the use of 
the word at 34. 14, 37. 25, 38. 10. 
Or it may mean that it was faithful 
as opposed to the tree of knowledge 
in Eden, which was treacherous. 

inter omnes] arbores. 

una nobilis] ' alone in thy glory, ' 
to be taken closely together ; cp. 
Verg. Aen. I. 15, 11. 426, in. 321 
ofelix una ante alias. 

23. nulla... silua] i.e. no ordinary 
forest : this tree came from Paradise. 
Perhaps Fort, has in mind Hor. Od. 
I. xiv. 12 siliiaefilia ncbilis. 

The thought works backwards 
from blossom to leaf and from leaf 
to bud ; and the fruit comes in the 
next line (pondus). Or it may be 
that Fort, with a distinct feeling of 
the etymology of ^t'r/;/(?« ('the tiling 
borne,' cp. 36. 10 tarn noua poma 
geris) means by it to express ' fruit ' ; 
when the order will be that of 
76. 5 f. 

24. dulce cl.] abl. Fortunatus 
freely uses the form in -e instead of 
the normal /of such adj.s, when the 
metre requires a short final syllable, 
as Ovid had sparingly done before 
him. Thus we have luce perentie 



diem, morte percnne iacet, cruce 
texile pulchra, dulce liquore sitim 
etc. Cp. mite in 27. 

The nails of the cross are specially 
mentioned by Fort, in 19, 34. 5, 
86. 7, 11. iv. 40 uera spes nobis 
ligno, agni sanguine, clauo. 

25. flecte] 'bend,' that the ascent 
may be the easier. 

ramos] Fort. 11. iii. 7 tensus in 
his ratnis, 35. 10. 

uiscera] i.e. the whole of the 
timber inside the bark, cp. Dracont. 
de Deo 1. 503 rubigo latens quai 
uiscera ferri j conrodat. 

tensa laxa uiscera] ' relax thy 
taut fibres.' Kayser takes tensa as 
the imperative of tensare and trans- 
lates ' extend thy timber into soft- 
ness ' ; but this does not give so 
good a sense, it introduces a spondee 
where in the rest of the hymn stands 
a trochee, and it invents a new verb 
tensare. 

26. natiuitas] 'birth,' 'nature.' 
Cp. Jas. i. 23 uiro consideranti uul- 
tum natiuitatis suae. 

27. mite] al)l., like d^ce in 24. 

28. pretlum saeculi] • The ran- 
som of the world ' was the death of 
Christ ; here by an easy transition 
it is applied to the body which 



HYMN XXXIV. FORTUNATUS 173 

sola digna tu fuisti ferre pretium saeculi, 
atque portum praeparare nauta mundo naufrago, 
quem sacer cruor perunxit fusus agni corpora. 30 

28 f. saecli pretium E^ Fh Gm Hb^ Ibdghv, saecli f, pretium Hd In Vs. 

29 naute (i.e. nautae) Iv Vs. mundi Ihv Vs. 30 quam Fck Hb'd Vs. 

fuso Bb Gb Mi. sanguine Hb^ Mi. 

suffered death; cp. 34. 22, 36. 40, uelis das nauita portum; viii. iii. 

42. 28; Fort. II. X. 10 haec pretio 397 opto per hos flitcttis anintas tu 

mundi stat solidata domus ; XI. i. Christe puberties, \ arbore et an- 

26 ideo Dominus in cruce suspendi- temna uelificante crucis, \ ut post 

tur,ut pro captiuitate nostra pretium emensos mundani gurgitis aestus | 

sui corporis mercalor in statera pen- in portum uitae nos tua dextra 

saret. locet. Ambrose before him had 

29. nauta is the cross itself likened the cross to a ship de Spir. 

floating over the waves of this .S". i. no lignum igitur illud crucis 

troublesome world, and so forming tulut quaedam nostras nauis salutis 

a refuge, like the ark, to a wrecked uectura nostra est. 
creation. The metaphor is mixed, 30. quem refers to portum, not 

but Fort, is given to combining in- without reference to Exod. xii. 13, 

congruous notions, of set purpose ; 23. 
cp. Fort. II. iv. 25 (of the cross) 

Hymn 34 

Hymn 34, Vexilla regis prodeimt, was written for the 
same occasion as 33, the introduction to which should be 
consulted. It 'was thus primarily a Processional hymn, 
written for use at the solemn reception of a relic of the 
Holy Cross. Inspired by the occasion the poet composed 
this poem of the Crucified King, one of the grandest 
hymns of the Latin church, in which in glowing accents 
he invites us to contemplate the mystery of love accom- 
plished on the Cross. The occasion thus gives the key to 
his choice of subject, and to most of the allusions through- 
out the hymn.' 

As to its subsequent history: 'the Sarum use was at 
Vespers on Passion Sunday and daily up to Maundy 
Thursday. In the Paris Brev. of 1736 it was assigned to 
Vespers from Monday in Passion Week up to Maundy 
Thursday. In the present Roman Brev. it is used at 
Vespers on the Saturday before Passion Sunday, and up 



174 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



to Maundy Thursday, and also on the Festival of the 
Invention of the Cross (May 3) ; and in the present 
Roman Missal it is appointed to be sung on the morning 
of Good Friday, after the ceremony of the Adoration of 
the Cross, and during the time that the acolytes are 
censing the reserved sacrament.' The above quotations 
are taken from the Rev. J. Mearns' excellent notice of 
the hymn in Julian p. 1220. 

Eacdhjlstvx577/x0 Fdfhikmps/3 Gam Habcdefghm labcdefghnv Mm Vcs 

Vexilla regis prodeunt, 

fulget crucis mysterium, 

quo carne carnis conditor 

suspensus est patibulo. 

2 fulge E5 Ih, fulgens Vs^, fulgent Ed. mysteria Ed. 3 qua Edt* 

Ga Hd Ig. 4 patibulum Ec5, in patibulo Hh. 



r. uexilla sunt signa militaria 
principum et regum, quae in bello 
eriguntur, ubi manus conseruntur 
cum hostibus. haud aliter insignia 
sacra pas.tionis Domini nostri {u/ 
Jlagella, corona spinea, crux, claui, 
lanceci) sunt eius uexilla (Clicht.). 
See 6. 15 (note), 42. 36, Minuc. 
Felix Octauius xxix. 7 nam et 
signa ipsa et cantabra et uexilla 
castrorum quid aliud quam inaura- 
tae cruces sunt et omatae? Prud. 
Psych. 347 uexillum sublime crucis, 

2. falget] in the literal sense, 
says Kayser, because adorned with 
gold and jewels. No doubt on the 
occasion for which the hymn was 
written the cross was thus adorned, 
but the blaze here is the blaze of 
glory, as at Prud. CatA. jx. 84 
pange uexillum, notatis quod re- 
fulget frontibus ; Sedul. Carm. i. 

337 ^M signo scurata crucis uexilla 
coruscant ; id. Op. I. 30 ecce scurata 
crucis uexilla iam radiant. 

crucis mysterium] the mystery 
consisting in the cross, i.e. the cross 
so full of meaning to a Christian. 

3. quo] 'whereby,' or 'wherein,' 
referring back to mysterium. 



came] ' in the flesh ' ; cp. 33. 5, 
12 (notes). 

4. patibulo] a yoke shaped some- 
what like the letter Y, placed on the 
back of criminals, to the arms of 
which their arms were tied for them 
to carry it to the place of execution ; 
cp. Plaut. Miles 359 f. credo ego istoc 
exemplo tibi esse pereundum extra 
portam, \ dispessis manibus patibu- 
lum quom habebis. Fort, did not 
know it as a punishment in use, 
any more than we do. It is treated 
as a practical synonym of crux. The 
i of patibulo is lengthened by the 
stress of the accent. Some hymnals 
have instead of suspenstis etc. the 
line sententiam nostram tulit, which 
Neale's version has popularized in 
England. 

5. ' Here the victim. His body 
pierced by nails, stretching out His 
hands, His feet, was sacrificed.' 
conjixa agrees with hostia, uiscera 
is the ace. of the part affected. 

uiscera] 'the body,' cp. Fort. 
I. ii. 17 quo ueneranda pit re- 
quiescunt uiscera Petri; 18. 17, 
33. 25. 

6. tendens manus] 11. iii. 7 cttm 



HYMN XXXIV. FORTUNATUS 175 



confixa clauis uiscera, 
tendens manus, uesdgia, 
redemptionis gratia 
hie inmolata est hostia. 

quo uulneratus insuper 
mucrone dirae lanceae, 
ut nos lauaret crimine, 
manauit unda, sanguine. 

inpleta sunt quae concinit 
Dauid fideli carmine, 
dicendo nationibus : 
'regnauit a ligno Deus.' 



15 



5-8 om. EaxAc Ha Il^hv, eras. Ev Gm. 8 om. hie Ed. hec Vs. 

inmolatus Ecdt. om. est Es Gm Mm. 9 quod la. uulneratur Edt. 

10 de dirae Ev. 1 1 lauare Ig, saluaret lb. 12 et s. Et Fkm Ga 

HbMm ladegV Vs, ex s. Ec2jliv5. 13 cecinit Ehl Fdi/3 Hah Mm. 

14 fidelis Ex/i<^ Gm Hacdefg Id-Tin, fideles Es. 15 dicendo in Ex*, 

dicens in Esx^/t^ Gm Hd*f Ig'hv. 



plantis bracchia pandens ; Fort. XI. 
i. 23 expandens autem manus ad 
populos [quia adeptus est^ palmam de 
terrcnis. The phrase perhaps comes 
from John xxi. 18 ; but wherever a 
similar phrase occurs (eg. Is. Ixv. 2) 
the early Christians naturally applied 
it to our Lord on the cross. Ambr. 
in Luc. X. wont non sibi soli, sed 
omnibus tiinceret, mantis extendit, 
quo omnia Iraherefad se', in Ps. 
cxviii. xiii. 19 nobis quoque ex- 
pandit manus siias Iesus...crucis 
eius p>i-otegimur uelamento. 

uestigrla] 'feet,' as at 40. 12, cp. 
13. 13 note. 

8. inmolata] 33. 18 note, and 
24. 7 note. 

9. quo (sc. patibulo) . . . insuper] 
* whereon.' It carries on the hie. 
insuper with the abl. often follows 
the word it governs ; as Vitr. x. 21 
quo insuper conlocata erat materies. 

1 1 f. 'to cleanse us from guilt He 
shed forth water and blood.' Joh. 
xix, 34, cp. 33. 30 note. The ab- 



sence of any connecting particle is 
so much in Fort.'s manner (cp. 33. 
19 sanguis, unda, 34. 6 mantis, 
ttestigia ; and the note on 33. 19) 
that although many of the best MSS 
here insert et, I have omitted it 
with other good MSS. 

13 f. ' Fulfilled is now what 
David sang in truthfiil strain, telling 
the nations (or ' Gentiles ') : God 
hath reigned from the tree.' 

14. ndeli] 'faithful to the truth,' 
as at 23. 21. 

15. dicendo] for this abl. gerund 
see Index. 

16. regrnauit] The cross is not 
only an altar (33. 20 note), but a 
throne. For the general sense cp. 
4. 17. 

a ligno] These words are not 
found in the Vulgate of Ps. xcv. 
(xcvi.) 10, but they are in certain 
MSS of the Old Latin version. 'AtA 
^v\ov is found in one ancient MS of 
the L.XX (see Swete aJ loc.), and 
Justin Martyr Apol. i. 41, and 



176 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



arbor decora et fulgida, 

ornata regis purpura, 

electa digno stipite 

tarn sancta membra tangere. 20 

beata, cuius bracchiis 
pretium pependit saeculi ! 
statera facta est corporis 
praedam tulitque tartari. 

17 om. et Es/it lb Vc. 19 electo E5, elata Fk la. digna Ecjv Ig. 

22 saecli pep. pretium Easx^«(^ Gm Hacefg Ighnv Mm, pep. saecli pretium 
lb. 23 om. est Edlsv/x Fm lad^g Vcs. 24 praedamque tulil Eachjx/x 
F"m Hacefgh Iv Mm Vs, que ( = quae) praedam t. In. tartaris Eax He 
Ibien Vc, tartaro Ed Hd^. 



Dial. 73 quotes the passage with 
dird Tov li^Xou ; and so Tert. c. Mar- 
cion. III. 19 age nunc si legisti penes 
Dauid: Domintis regnauit a ligno \ 
Commodian Apol. 291 in psalmis 
canitur : Dominus regnauit a ligno. 
Sabatier ad loc. gives many other 
references to Latin authors. For 
liturgical texts which contain the 
words see Julian p. 1220. 

i7f. arbor] see 33. 22. For the 
legend as to the tree of which the 
cross was made see 33. 4 note. 

18. The purple is that of the 
blood which consecrated the tree as 
a throne ; cp. Paul. Nol. Carvi. 
XXVII. 89 crtue purpurea pretiosi 
sanguinis ostro ; Sedul. Carm. v. 
287 purpttreus cruor el simul uiida 
cticurrit. It is not of the purple 
hangings of the processional cross 
(as Kayser suggests) that the poet 
is thinking ; cp. 2 note. 

19. electa] Cp. Prud. Perist. 
VIII. I electus Christo locus est; 
Fort. II. iv, 21 arbor... electa ut 
uisu, sic e crucis ordine pulchra. 
The full force of the word is to be 
got from 33. 6. The tangere may 
depend upon electa, rather than 
upon digna, or upon both words in 
common. Cp. 33. 28. 

21. ' O blessed tree, on whose 
arms hung the ransom of the world ! 



It was made a balance for His body 
and bore away the prey of hell.' 

22. pretium saeculi] Cp. 33. 28 
note. 

23. Fort, compares the cross to 
a balance at xi. i. 26 (quoted above 
on 33. 28); at Vita Mart. 11. 337 
inque crucis tititina pretii nuviis- 
mata pensans, and at Laus Mariae 
1 70 in cruce pensandus. 

24. -que follows the phrase 
praedam-tulit, which is regarded as 
one word ; it follows the third word 
of its clause at Hi. xii. 31. Even 
classical poets sometimes use que 
late in the sentence; e.g. Tibull. 11. 
V. 72 muttus ut in terras deplue- 
retque lapis. 

tartari] Cp. 23. 11 note. Fort, 
freely uses the nomenclature of 
classical mythology, as e.g. x. i. 21 
ob hoc euacuauit tartaros, ut repleat 
caelos. He goes further still in 
places, see vi. i. 36 f. 

25. fundis has its last syllable 
lengthened by the stress of the 
verse. 

aroma is a generic name for 
' spices,' some of which exude as 
gum from trees. Here it indicates a 
spicy odour corresponding to the 
delicious taste of nectar ; cp. Fort. 
V. 1. I nares ipsas aromate respi- 
rante suffiuit\ Vli. xii. 38 graiiui 



HYMN XXXIV. FORTUNATUS 177 



fundis aroma cortice, 
uincis sapore nectare, 
iocunda fructu fertili 
plaudis. triumpho nobili. 

salue ara, salue uictima 
de passionis gloria, 
qua uita mortem pertulit 
et morte uitam reddidit. 



25 



30 



25 fundens Ecdlt Hb Ice Vc. aromata cortex Ga. 26 uincens Ecd. 

saporem Ecdt^S Ice Vcs (soporem El In), nectarem Et^ nectara Hm*, 
nectaris El. 27 fecunda Ecdlt^. 28 portas El. triumphum Elt^ 

Ga Hm Vs. nobilem Ecdl Vs, nobile Ga. 29 salua Ga. 30 hostia 
Ga. 31 praetulit E5. 32 pro {pro et) Edl. morti la. 



aura fiuens quam spiret aroma 
Sabaeum, uincens quae pinguis 
balsama silua rejlat; ib. 120 sua- 
uius et recreat quam quod aroma 
rejlat; Laus Mariae 354 uincis 
aromaticas mentis odo^e comas. 

cortice] Fort. n. iv. 27 (of the 
cross) arbor dulcis agri, rorans e 
cortice nectar. 

26. Nectar was the drink of the 
old Greek gods on Olympus. Hec- 
tare is a collateral form of nectar, 
apparently invented by Fort, for the 
sake of the metre : similar forms 
used by him are calcis for calx, cotis 
for cos, ducis for dux and others, — 
as Ennius has lacte for lac. Cp. 
uespere 18. 5. The 2nd hand of one 
St Gall IXth cent. MS reads nectara, 
plural ; an obvious correction. 

27. iocunda] ' rejoicing,' as if the 
cross were endowed with life and 
thought. 

fructu] Cp. 33. 23 note, 36. 
10. 

fertili may be translated ' rich,' 
'abundant,' but is really an epithet 



transferred from the tree which 
bore the fruit to the fruit itself; cp. 
35. 9. 

28. plaudis] ' thou clappest thy 
hands,' a metaphor taken from Ps. 
xcvii. (xcviii.) 8 Jlnmina plaudetit 
manu; or perhaps from Is. Iv. 12 
et omnia ligna regionis plaudent 
manu. \i triumphum nobilem were 
better supported it might be Fort.'s 
original, in which case plaudis 
would be transitive. - 

For triumpho cp. 33. 2 note. 

29. ara] of the cross, see 33. 18 
note. 

30. ' on account of the glorious 
passion,' this being both the cause 
and the subject of the salutation, 
X. i. 60 de culpa uapulat. 

31. uita] He who is the life of 
the world ; cp. 8. 3, 10. 27 etc. 

pertulit is used as at 31. 21, 
38. 17. 

A different ending to the hymn, 
crux aue, spes unica etc., is 
given in some uses. See Julian ut 
sup. 



178 EARLY LA TLN H YMNS 

Hymn 35 

The following lines were no doubt written for the same 
purpose as 33 and 34 ; see the introduction to 33. They 
are more carefully composed than most of Fortunatus' 
elegiacs and form an excellent hymn. Trench (on what 
authority I know not) says : ' These lines are only a 
portion of a far longer poem.' But, though indeed in a 
very few MSS certain couplets follow, these are not 
genuine and were evidently written by someone who 
failed to see that they spoilt the effect of the fine close of 
the hymn. The interpolated distichs begin thus : 
Gloria magna deo magnalia tanta patranti, 
qui tarn mir a facit gloria magna deo. 
The MSS which contain some or other few of these verses 
are, I believe, the so-called Severinian MSS at Paris and 
in the Vatican ; Cassino 506 Q ; Bodl. Douce 222 ; Capit. 
Mutin. O I n. 7 ; Vat. Urbin. 585. Leo did not come across 
the verses in his more ancient codd., and does not mention 
them. 

Et Fc Hbdm Idf Vcs 

Crux benedicta nitet, dominus qua carne pependit 
atque cruore sue uulnera nostra lauit : 

mitis amore pic pro nobis uictima factus 

traxit ab ore lupi qua sacer agnus oues : 

4 quas Hb^d. 

1. crux... nitet] Cp. 34. 2. 88. 27. Leo here reads lauat, and 
came] Cp. 33. 12, 34. 3. at Appendix 11. 60 (p. 277) qua 

2. uulnera] Cp. 19. r6. Christus dignans adsumpta in cariu 
lauit] Cp. 33. 21, 34. II. Coming pependit \ atque cruore suo uuhiera 

between /^/^wfl^iV and /rojrzV it is no nostra lauit, he says that lauit is 

doubt perfect, and in a classical not perfect. 

poet the a would be long. But Fort. 3 f. ' Where the sacred Lamb, 

gives himself much metrical licence, made a gentle victim for us in his 

— writing deficerit I. vi. 20, effugit kindly love drew the sheep from the 

(perfect) i. xvi. 39, petSbatur v. iii. wolf's mouth.' 

30 ; cp. also fiigit 36. 48, deiecit 4. The wolf and sheep are con- 



HYMN XXXV. FORTUNATUS 

transfixis palmis ubi mundum a clade redemit 

atque suo clausit funere mortis iter, 
hie manus ilia fuit clauis confixa cruentis, 

quae eripuit Paulum crimine, morte Petrum. 
fertilitate potens, o dulce et nobile lignum, 

quando tuis ramis tam noua poma geris, 
cuius odore nouo defuncta cadauera surgunt, 

et redeunt uitae qui caruere diem. 

5 transfixus Vc, transfixit Et If. palmas Et If Vc. ibi Hbr. 
quae Vc. 1 1 huius Hb^ 



179 



10 



stantly mentioned by Fort., as at 
II. iii. 5 f. qtiaeque liipi ftierant 
raptoris praeda ferocis, \ in cruce 
restituit uirginis agiius oues. 

qua is misplaced, as to a less 
degree is ubi in 5. It may either be 
a conjunction, ' where,' correspond- 
ing to ubi, or the abl. of the relative, 
' on which.' 

5. The first half of the line 
almost recurs V. v. 59 in cruce 
transfixus palmis pedibusque p>e- 
pendit. For the rhythm cp. vi. v. 
71 extensis palmis. 

clade] ' destruction ' ; cp. Hii. 
Hymn. III. 10 inter tanta dum ex- 
sullat nostrae cladis funera ; Sedul. 
Carm. III. 45 populos a clade leua- 
uit. 

6. For the phrase V/«««V iter cp. 
Prud. Nol. Epist. XLIII. 7 cum 
hiems nauigationem et itinera clau- 
deret metus. 

mortis iter occurs at Propert. iv. 
vii. 2, Fort. l. ii. 16, 36. 34. 

7. clauis] 33. 24 note. 

8. The rescue of Paul from un- 
belief in Acts ix, of Peter from 
prison in Acts xii. The elision of 
quae is very harsh. 

9. The rhythm /. /. comes from 
V'erg. Aen. xi. 340 seditione potens 
and is repeated by Port, at iv. xxi. 
7, \ll. xiv. 1 1 ; cp. Vlll. i. 35 pau- 
per tate potens. 

10. ' Seeing that on thy boughs 
thou bearest fruit so rare.' quando 
is one of Fort.'s favourite words, as 



at 33. 10, and is used in a causal 
sense X. vii. 67, Vit. Mart. \\. 57, 
2H, IV. 144. Here it explains y^- 
tilitate. Cp. 33. 22 ff., 34. 27. 

ramis] of the arms of the cross, 
as at II. iv. 28 ramis de cuius uitalia 
crismata surgunt. 

tam noua is an unusual phrase ; 
and possibly (as Leo suggests) noua 
may he a mistake for bona, the 
copyist of the archetype of our Mss 
letting his eye rest on nouo in ii. 
But nouus is one of Fort.'s especial 
words, see v. ii, 2, 32, v. 100 etc. 
Cp. III. ix. 92 atque uetus uiiium 
purgat in amne noua. 

11. cuius odore nouo recalls i. 
viii. 13 huius amore nouo. 

odore] Cp. II. V. 10 (of the cross) 
dulce mihi lignum, pie maius odore 
rosetis; 34. 25. 

nouo probably means 'unknown 
until now' ; 6. 30, 12. 2, 31. 49. 

defuncta] Cp. Verg. Georg. iv. 
475 defunctaque corpora tiita ', Fort. 
X. vi. 59 o uo.v sancta, loqui de- 
functa ccidauera cogens. 

1 2. uitae may be gen. after diem, 
' who have lost the light of life ' ; 
cp. [Verg.] Ciris 296 diem . . .prodti- 
cere uitae. But it is probably dat. 
after redeunt, as at V. v. 62 quod 
rediit caelis, testis et ista dies. Cp. 
X. vi. 119 ducere qui meruit de 
morte cadauera uitae, xi. 15 qui pie 
restituit defututa cadauera uitae. 
The reference is not only to Mt. 
xxvii. 52, but also to the quickening 



i86 



EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 



nullum uret aestus sub frondibus arboris huius, 
luna nee in nocte sol neque meridie. 

tu plantata micas, secus est ubi cursus aquarum, 
spargis et ornatas flore recente comas. 



15 



13 uret nullum Id. exuret nuUos {pro n. u. aestus) If Vc. aestum Et. 
16 odoratas {pro et orn.) If Vc. micante Vs. 



of those of whom Christ was the 
first-fruits. 

caruere] Cp. Verg. Georg. iv. 472 
umbrae... simulacraqtie luce caren- 
tttm ; Prud. Cath. ix. 46 sole iatn 
quarto carentem. But in Symm. i. 
291 luce carentes has another mean- 
ing., 

diem] ' the light of day ' ; as in 
Sedul. Carm. in. 104 filia clauso 
functa die. The ace. after careo is 
found two or three times in Plautus, 
and in like manner Fort, has iv. xi. 
\% fruitur uultum, ix. ii. 127 utentes 
pallam. 

13, 14 come from Ps. cxx. (cxxi.) 
6 per diem sol non uret te : neque 
luna per noctem ; Rev. vii. 16 nee ca- 
det super illos sol, neque ullus aestus. 
nullum = nemmem. Fort, (like 
Prud. 30. 3 note) does not distin- 
guish between the two words. Cp. i. 
xxi. 34 nullus arare potest, V. vi. 9 
quam inter omnes litter am medi- 
tullio conlocarem, quae sic reciperet 
omnem ut offenderet neminem. 

Fort, lengthens the short final of 
uret before a vowel, also of uitis in 
17, and olfundis at 34. 25, as Verg. 
before him had written peteret in- 
concessos. And he could so easily 
have said uret nullum, that it looks 
as if he had lengthened the syllable 
of set purpose. 

noctem is better supported than 
fiocte, but probably came in from 
the wording of the psalm. Fort, is 
given to rhyming the two halves of 
a pentameter, doing so in 1092 out 
of the 3774 possible cases; so that 
he is more likely to have lengthened 
the e of nocte than to have misused 
in noctem, which should mean 'at 
nightfall.' In like manner many 



good Mss at 6. 17 read procedens 
and at 31. i ortu, in both cases in- 
fluenced by the psalm referred to. 

mSiidle is scanned meridie ; not 
necessarily that Fort, did not know 
the classical quantities ; but that he 
wished to use a word which without 
taking such a liberty he could not 
fit into a pentameter. Similarly he 
has dnackdreta, ceremonia, erifmus, 
eccl^sia, lu-resis (ll. ii. 29), but eccle- 
sia I. xvi. 34, 44, haeresis III. xv. 
25, when it suits his purpose. The 
old metrical system based on the 
quantity of syllables was dying out, 
the new rhythmical system based on 
accentuation was coming in ; cp. 
Trench p. 9f. 

15. Ps. i. 3 et erit tamquam lig- 
num, quod plantatum est secus de- 
cursus aquarum, quod fructum suum 
dabit tempore suo. We have the 
word plantare at 56. 7, Fort. ix. ii. 
121 and often in Vulg. 

micas] like nitet in i ; or perhaps 
it is of the fluttering of the leaves. 
Cp. 36. 12. 

secus... ubi] 'hard by which'; 
secus being a preposition, as in the 
psalm ; here governing the unex- 
pressed antecedent of ubi. The 
adverb secus has quite another 
meaning, ' apart ' or ' otherwise.' 
In the time of the grammarian 
Charisius the use of secus as a prep, 
was nouum et sordidum. It is used, 
however, by Cato, and is found in 
inscriptions, as C. I. L. in. 6418 
hie est occisus secus Titum Jlumen. 
It is used by Jerome and Gregory 
of Tours. 

16. comas] 'foliage.' The idea of 
spargis appears to be that the tree 
showers its beneficent leaves upon 



HYMN XXXVI. FORTUNATUS i8i 

appensa est uitis inter tua bracchia, de qua 
dulcia sanguineo uina rubore fluunt 

1 8 sanguinea If Vc. 

those who take refuge under it, — ex illo botryone peregrino, qui sicut 
perhaps with a reference to Rev. xxii. una de uiti, ita tile in came crucis 
2. Cp. Passio S. Perpetuae ii qua- pependit e ligno. Cp. Niceta p. 4 
rum folia cadebant sine cessatione. (ed. Burn) dulcedo te saeculi de- 
17. 'The cross as the tree to which lectat? magis ad crucem Christi 
the vine is cHnging and from which conuertere, ut eius uitis, quae in 
its tendrils and fruit depend, is a cruce pependit, dulcedine recreeris; 
beautiful weaving in of the image of Sedul. Carm. v. 216 (of the im- 
the true Vine with the fact of the penitent robber) ore uenenato uUem 
Crucifixion. The blending of one lacerabat amoenam. 
image and another comes perhaps appensa est is probably an ex- 
yet more beautifully out, though not ample of a pass. part, in a medial 
without a certain incoherence in the sense. Cp. Fort. ix. ix. 42 rupibus 
images, in that which sometimes adpensis pendet et ipse legens, where 
appears in ancient works of Christian Fort, uses it in the sense of a very 
Art, — namely, Christ set forth as favourite word of his — pendulis. 
Lamb round which the branches of nina] plural, partly for the sake 
a loaded vine are clustering and of the metre, as at 91. 16. So Verg. 
clinging.' Trench p. 133. Ambr. uses the word in the plur. 16 times, 
de Fide I. 135 poculum nouum de the sing, seven times. Draeger § 5. 
caelo delatum in terrani, expressum 18. mbore] see 8. 17 note. 



Hymn 36 

We have here a notable example of hymns of the 
widest use being made out of a poem. For 36 is an 
extract from the longest out of several poetical epistles 
addressed by Fortunatus to Felix bishop of Nantes. In 
it he dwells with much poetical force and with deep 
religious feeling upon the beauty of spring, which has 
come in her gayest attire to greet her risen Lord. 

In this poem and in other like vivid pictures of the 
awakening of nature in spring, — see especially VI. i and 
vi, VIII. vii, IX. iii, — Fortunatus displays his powers at their 
best. Not only does he give a brilliant view of the external 
aspect of things, but he endows nature with a soul, much 
as a modern poet might. No writer has with truer insight 
and keenerobservationpourtrayedheroutburst of rejoicing 
after the winter of her discontent than Fortunatus has 



1 82 EA RL V LA TIN H YMNS 

done in this poem. Each verse brings a fresh trait, a new 
point of beauty and of exultation, and all this rejoicing 
is brought into connexion with the resurrection of Christ. 
We may compare Ambr. in Luc. X. 34 hieme arbores 
uentus suo honore dispoliat et asperitas frigoris teneras 
frondes in speciem mortis interficit ; uere autem resurgiint 
semina et tmnqiiam noua aestas naturae uiridantis adolescit. 
uere pascha est, quando seruatus sum. 

From this poem (ill. ix in Leo's edition and consisting 
of 1 10 lines) many centos were made in various churches 
to serve as processionals for Easter, Ascensiontide, and 
Whitsuntide, each beginning with line 23 Salue festa dies, 
toto uenerabilis aeuo : to say nothing of hymns for other 
days, which in many cases took little or nothing from 
the poem of Fort, except this opening line. Chevalier 
{Repertorium II. 506 f., III. 552) notes more than thirty 
hymns which begin therewith. See Daniel I. 161, II. 181 f., 
IV. 143, V. 205 ; Dreves Analecta L. ^6 f., where the whole 
poem is printed and much information as to the use of 
several of the centos is given. 

Et Hm 
Tempora florigero rutilant distincta serene 

et maidre poli lumine porta patet. 
altius igniuomum solem caeli orbita ducit, 
qua uagus oceanas exit et intrat aquas. 
4 qui Et. 

I. florigero] perhaps first used sereno] 'fair weather,' as at 22. 

by Sedui. Cartn. ii. 2. Such pic- 5 ; cp. 10. 2 (note), 

turesque adj.'s as this and igni- 2. 'The gate of heaven' is the 

tiomum in 3 are especially found sky ; cp. Verg. Georg. III. 261 porta 

in late writers, though Lucr. Ml. u tonat caeli \ Lact. Phoen. 2 qtia 

has florifer. Other like adj.'s used patet aeterni maxima porta poli; 

by Fort, are aestifer, altithronus. Fort. II. vii. i ianita celsa poli terra 

altiiiolans, blandijluus, falsiloquax, pttlsante patescit. 

flammicreinus etc. See 27. 8 note 3. caeli orb.] ' his track through 

and also Draeger I. p. xf. heaven.' 

distincta] Cp. [Verg.] Cul. 70 4. uagus] 'in his swift course.' 

distincta coloribus arua. SoCatull. LXIV. 271 uagi...solis\ ib. 



H YMN XXX VI. FOR TUNA TVS 

armatus radiis elementa liquentia lustrans 

adhuc nocte breui tendit in orbe diem, 
splendida sincerum producunt aethera uultum, 

laetitiamque suam sidera clara probant. 
rus gaudens uario fundit munuscula fetu, 

cum bene uernales reddidit annus opes. 
moUia purpureum pingunt uiolaria campum, 

prata uirent herbis et micat herba comis. 



183 
5 



5 armatis Et Hm. 



6 urbe Et. 



10 reddit Hm. 



LXin. %() pede uago, 'with speeding 
foot ' ; Hor. Sat. I. viii. 2 1 uaga 
luna ; 76. 8 iiagos recursus siderutn. 
oceanas] ' of ocean,' which for 
the ancients was a great sea en- 
compassing the earth, what Ambr. 
Hex. V. 28 calls ultra orbis terra- 
rum terminos mare, quod nullae in- 
terpolant insuiae, nee terra aliqua 
inter iacet uel ulterius ulja sit posita ; 
and the sun rose from it and set in 
it ; cp. Verg. Aen. iv. 1 29 oceanum 
interea surgens Aurora reliquit, cp. 
27. 3 note. For the form of the adj . 
cp. Caes. Bell. Gall. iir. 7, Fort. 
VII. xii. 56 mare oceamim. Fort, 
has similar forms Rhodanas aquas, 
Alexandras urbis, Romula regna. 
The accus. after exire is of course 
quite classical. 

5. armatus radiia] The sun's 
rays are likened to darts, as at 21. 6. 

liquentia] 'clear.' 

6. adhuc... tendit] 'The night is 
short and he stretches out the day 
still further.' This sense oi adhuc is 
often found in the later Latin ; e.g. 
Plin. Epist. VIII. vii. i ego adhuc 
Saturnalia extendo. adhuc is a 
spondee as at Fort. i. xx. 23. 

7. sincenun] ' unmixed with 
clouds,' 'bright'; cp. vi. i. 26 
sincere luminc. 

producunt] as at vii. vi. i Luci/er 
ut nitidos producit in aetlura uultus. 

aethera] neuter plural, a late 
usage ; cp. Vit. .Mart. ii. 345 
tenuata per aethera lapsus ; ill. 424 
longitujita per aethera tranat ; 39. 1 . 



Just so Fort. i.x. i. 141 aeratemperie 
faueant tibi. 

8. Clara] i.e. by their brilliance ; 
note the emphasis laid on the adj. 

9. rus graudens is found in all 
liturgical Mss, but the original text 
of Fort, is terra fauens. He has in 
mind Verg. Eel. iv. 18 nulla mu- 
nuscula cultu . . . tellus . . .fundet. 

fetu] Verg. Georg. 11. 390 largo 
pubescit uinea/etu. 

10. bene as often in Fort, (see 
Leo p. 393) has lost its special sense 
as the adv. of bonus ; but this usage, 
borrowed from the language of con- 
versation, is found in several writers, 
as Plautus, Terence, Cicero's Epis- 
tles and others. Cp. Lucr. V. 706 
plena bene lumine fulsit, and the 
French bien. It is not to be taken 
with uernales, but with reddidit apes. 

11. mollia... uiolaria] Verg. Eel. 
V. }^pro Hiolliuiola ; ib. li. 50 mallia 
uaccinia. 

purpureum perhaps refers to the 
colour of the violet, though the 
word is often used by poets in the 
sense of ' i)right,' ' gleaming.' Thus 
Verg. Eel. v. 38 applies it to the 
white narcissus (cp. Georg. i. 405), 
Horace to swans, Albinouauus to 
snow ; and Fort. vi. vi. i has hie 
uer purpureum, which comes from 
Verg. Eel. ix. 40. 

pingunt] ' pick out, ' see 27. 6 note ; 
or perhaps ' paint,' the exact force 
depending on the sense of/wr/z/r^-KW 
here. A like question arises at 76. 3. 

1 2. herbis does not mean ' wild 



1 84 



EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 



paulatim subeunt stellantia lumina florum, 

arridentque oculis gramina tincta suis. 
ecce renascentis testatur gratia mundi 

omnia cum domino dona redisse suo. 
namque triumphanti post tristia tartara Christo 

undique fronde nemus, gramina flore fauent. 
legibus inferni oppressis super astra meantem 

laudant rite Deum lux, polus, arua, fretum. 

13 stillantia Et Hm. 



15 



flowers,' as it does at i. xviii. 4 
fragrat odoriferis blandior herba 
comis; VIII. vi. 7 inter odoriferas 
tamen has qtias tnisitnus herbas, | 
purpureae uiolae nobile germen ha- 
bent. As the second half of the line 
probably refers to the waving of the 
long grass (cp. i. xx. 14 fluctuat 
herba comis), herbis here means 
' grass.' At XI. xx. i me pascitis 
heibis it means ' salads. ' With mi- 
cat, comis cp. 36. 15, r6 above. 

13. paulatim] of the gradual 
growth of flowers and plants ; cp. 
Verg. Eel. IV. 28 molli paulatim 

Jlatiescet campus arista. 

etellantla] ' star-like.' Lucr. and 
Verg. and others use the word of 
the nightly heavens, Ovid Met. i. 
723 gemmis caudam stellantibus im- 
plet of the ' eyes ' on a peacock's 
tail. For the MS spelling stillantia 
cp. note on destricto 24. 18. 

14. arrident] So Vergil speaks 
of ' the smiling acanthus,' Eel. iv. 
20. Cp. Ps. Ixiv. (Ixv.) 14. 

gramina are the grassy fields, as 
in rS, and the oculi the flowers. 

15. renascentis] The birth is a 
long process still going on ; but the 
fact that it has begun is a symbol 
that the resurrection has restored all 
good things. 

gratia] ' beauty,' cp. Fort. viii. 
viii. 15 gratia Jlorum, 127. 4. 

17. post... tartara] i.e. after His 
sojourn in Hades. Fort, is fond of 
this pregnant use o^ post; cp. III. 
ix. 85 post tartara came resumpta ; 



IV. vi. i"] post tenebras mundi quern 
tenet aula poli, ib. xiv. 4, xxvi. 143 ; 
VII. xxi. 9 post Italas terras, ' after 
their stay in Italy ' ; so 1. 19 post 
Herodem, 38. 3. For the general 
sense cp. viii. vii. 3 f. tempore 
uernali, Dominus quo tartara ui- 
cit, I stir git aperta suis laetior herba 
comis, IX. iii. For tartara cp. 23. 
II note. 

18. fauent] 'smile upon,' 're- 
joice with,' cp. Fort. I. xviii. 14 et 
fauet auctori uitiijicata suo. At IX. 

iv. 14 perpetui regtii se fauet arce 
frui='^ rejoices.' 

19. legibus Infemi] 'the reign 
of hell.' Cp. 35 infernae...legis ; 
Propert. v. xi. 3 infernas leges ; 
Sedul. Carm. iv. 286 mortisque 
profundae \ lex peril. Fort, has 
caught up with vigour Hilary's 
repeated reference to ' the law of 
death ' ; see Hil. Hymn. 11. 23 
mors, te peremptafn sentis lege cum 
tua\ III. 27 scit terrenam subiacere 
mortis legi originetn; Fort. II. xvi. 
125 desponsata uiro mortali lege 
iacebat ; x. xi. 8 infer nae legis rum- 
pere uincla potens. 

super astra] Fort, is especially 
fond of thus denoting heaven ; cp. 
e.g. VII. xii. 48 ac terris recubat 
quod super astra uolet, lines 24, 52, 
39.27. This reference to the Ascen- 
sion in an Easter poem is explained 
by the fact that the resurrection was 
the pledge of the ascension, see 
Joh. XX. 17. 

meantem] ' going,' a rarer verb 



HYMN XXXVI. FORTUNATUS 



185 



qui crucifixus erat Deus ecce per omnia regnat, 

dantque creatori cuncta creata precem. 
salue festa dies toto uenerabilis aeuo, 

qua Deus infernum uicit et astra tenet, 
nobilitas anni, mensum decus, arma dierum, 25 

horarum splendor, scripula, puncta fouens. 
Christe, salus rerum, bone conditor atque redemptor, 

unica progenies ex deitate Patris, 
aequalis, concors, socius, cum Patre coaeuus, 

quo sumpsit mundus principe principium, 30 



than the compound remeare (used at 
112. 6), but cp. Lact. Phoen. 52 
orbein totum protulit usque means ; 
Paul. Nol. Carm. XV. I44 quae 
mundi per membra meat ; Fort. I. 
XV. 73, III. X. 16, IV. V. 3, VI. i. 
23, XI. XXV. 2. Horace has quo 
sitiiul mearis, Od. i. iv. 17. 

20 is the strikingly brief expression 
of the thought which has been 
elaborately wrought out in the pre- 
ceding lines, the conclusion to 
which they have been progress- 
ing. 

In the second half of the line we 
have again the threefold division of 
the departments of nature (see 23. 6, 
33. 21), for lux zxiA polus form but 
one idea. 

21. per omnia] Cp. 6. 31 note. 

23 is an echo of Ov. Fast. i. 87 
salue laeta dies. In the various 
centos made up from this poem 
lines 23, 24 are always put at the 
beginning ; see introduction. 

2f. arma dierum] i.e. Easter is 
the protection and guard of all the 
days of the year. Fort, uses a like 
phrase, IV. iii. 9 summus honor 
regum, populi decus, arma paren- 
tum ; II. V. 8 eripe credentes, Jidei 
decus, arma salutis, cp. IV. x. 11, 
xi. 5. 

26. scripula, puncta] ' minutes 
and seconds.' The scripulus {-urn) 
or scrup. generally denoted one 
24th part of the ninia, but also the 



same division of an hour, about i\ 
of our minutes. Cp. Fort. Append. 
XXIII. 5 (p. 287, ed. Leo) scripulos 
nescimus et horas. fovens carries on 
the thought of arma, 'protecting,' 
as at 6. 32. 

27. sains renun] 'salvation of 
the world ' ; see note on 38. 29. 

conditor... redemptor] See note 
on 33. II. 

28. deitate] ' the divine nature,' 
a word not used except by Christian 
writers. Here it represents the Ni- 
cene iK ttjs ovfflas rod IIarp6s, cp. 
XI. 1. 16 de deitate Patris atque 
Filii. Fort, also uses it as a synonym 
for Deus in. xiv. j deitatis amice. 

29. Perhaps the writer is thinking 
of Sedul. Carm. I. 32 i. par splendor, 
communis apex, sociale ccuumen, \ 
aeqiius honor, uirtus eadem, sine 
tempore regnum, \ semper princi- 
pium, sceptrum iuge, gloria con- 
sors.... Cp. Fort. VII. X. i"; aequalis 
concors, ut ab omnibus alme uoceris. 

30. principe] Cp. 24. 10 note. 
The word is chosen here because of 
the following principium. Fort, 
loves to set kindred or like-sounding 
words thus side by side, as at iv. 
xxi. 13 mortua mors est, V. vi. 1 
cum nihil uelleretur ex uellere quod 
carminaretur in carmine, VI. v. 242 
iurat iure suo, X. ix. 47 flumina 
conjiua, Fit. Mart. I. 326 incu'ti 
c7iltores ruricolares, \ ne colerent 
melius sua si cultura periret etc. 



1 86 



EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 



qui genus humanum cernens mersisse profundo, 

ut hominem eriperes, es quoque factus homo, 
funeris exsequias pateris, uitae auctor et orbis, 

intras mortis iter dando salutis opem. 
tristia cesserunt infernae uincula legis, 

expauitque chaos luminis ore premi. 
pollicitam sed redde fidem, precor, alma potestas, 

tertia lux rediit, surge, sepulte meus. 
31 quo Et. 



35 



31. For the tense of cernens cp. 
Liv. XXVII. 43 implicantes { = cum 
impUciiissent) edocuerunt ; Tac. 
Ann. Xll. 48 cognoscens prodittim 
Mithridatem uocat consilium ; and 
the imitation of the present passage 
by Notker XLI. 5 qui cernens itn- 
mersos esse barathro, tua quos ador- 
nat imago, propter nos factus es 
homo, ut nos solueres sanguine tuo. 

mersisse] intransitive; cp. Ambr. 
in Luc. IV. 51 qui leprosus merserat, 
fidelis emersit ; de Myst. 2 r ille 
Syrus septies mersit in lege ; Fort. I. 
xxi. 30 ungula mergit equi. 

profundo] a substantive, as often 
in this sense in the Vulgate, e.g. 
Is. vii. II. Amhr.'s profundo mer- 
serat 7. 9 has quite another mean- 
ing. 

32. 'To rescue man Thou wast 
even made man ' ; or perhaps it is a 
clumsy way of saying 'wast Thyself 
also made man.' quoque has lost its 
proper place in the clause, imme- 
diately after the word it emphasizes; 
here it apparently means ' even,' 
'actually,' and it qualifies the fol- 
lowing words factus homo. So at 
III. viii. 43 tu quoque ieiunis cibus 
es ; V. V. 43 nam Pater et Genitus, 
quoque sane t us Spirit us idem, quo- 
que was a literary word avoided by 
writers of popular Latin, and it did 
not survive into the Romance lan- 
guages. Fort, elsewhere uses it for 
the simple 'and,' Vit. Germ. i. i 
Ger mantis... patre Eleutherio mat re 
quoque Eiisehia...procreatus est. 

Note that ut is lengthentjd before 



hominem, the h being reckoned as a 
consonant, as often in Fort. Cp. 38. 
26, 28. 

33. fimeris exsequias] lit. ' the 
funeral procession,' here 'the rites 
of burial,' which is mentioned, as in 
the creeds and as at 32. 3, 37. 16, 
to shew the reality of the death of 
Christ. 

34. mortis iter] Cp. 35. 6 ; Fort. 
X. vi. 38 mors ibi perdit iter. The 
phrase dando salutis opem recurs at 
Fort. VIII. xii. 8; cp. 37. 4; ib. 
V. V. 86 ferat salutis opem ; X. vii. 
42 salutis opes. For the abl. gerund 
see note on 21. 11. 

35. infernae... legis] See 19 note. 

36. cbaos] 'hell,' 'the realm of 
darkness.' So Sedul. Carm. iv. 
i^id tremuit letale chaos; Fort. III. 
ix. 87 quos habuit poenale chaos. 
See 27. 3 note. 

The omission of the ace. of the 
subject {se) before the inf. {premi) 
is a common usage with Fort. .See 
Leo p. 404 and cp. 40. 17, 76. 15, 
84. 16. The infin. is not — «^ pre- 
meretur, but rather nearer quia 
pressum est. 

37. Mt. XX. 19. Fort, has in 
mind Ov. Fast. in. 366 pollicitam 
diet is luppiter addefdem, where as 
here the deponent is used in a 
passive sense : ' the promised ful- 
filment.' 

sed is often thus used by Fort, 
with little or no adversative force 
and not first in its clause ; cp. e.g. 
II. vii. 33 tum mulier collegit ouam 
et condidil artus, \ una sed famula 



HYMN XXX VI. FOR TUNA TUS 



187 



non decet ut humili tumulo tua membra tegantur, 
neu pretium mundi uilia saxa premant. 

indignum est, cuius clauduntur cuncta pugillo, 
ut tegat inclusum rupe uetante lapis. 

lintea tolle, precor, sudaria, linque sepulcro, 
tu satis es nobis et sine te nihil est. 

solue catenatas inferni carceris umbras, 



40 



participante sibi. VVilh its use in the 
hymn we may cp. the like use of 
dXXd in the Greek tragedians, as at 
Soph. El. 4 1 1 to OttA. iraTp(fioi, avy- 
yiveadi y dXXa vvv. 

potestas] Verg. Aen. x. iS 
pater, o hominitm, rerttmque aetema 
potestas. Fort, often uses the word 
in this concrete sense; as at viii. 
iii. \i() praetexta potestas '■, IX. ii. 53 
celsa potestas \ Vit. Mart. III. 233 
augusta potestas. 

mens] for the usual vocative w», 
as at Ps. xxi. (xxii.) 2, Fort. vii. 
xii. 109 die homo note meus\ already 
used by Verg. Aen. vi. 835 proice 
tela manu, sanguis mens, and before 
him by Plaut. Stieh. 764 tu interim, 
meus oculits , da mihi sauiiiin. Verg. 
Aen. I. 664 nale nieae uires, mea 
magna potentia solus is similar but 
not identical. 

39. ut with the subj. sometimes 
takes the place of the ace. and inf., 
see Leo p. 421. decet stent is found 
in Plautus, decet ut fairly often in 
late Latin. We find the normal 
construction oi decet. Fort. IV. vi. 17 
non decet... dejlere; but cp. V. v. 2 
condecet ut semper laus tua, Christe, 
sonet. For the lengthening of ut 
before h see 32 above. 

tegrantur] often so used by Fort, 
as at IV. V. 6, viii. 6, xviii. 6, xxviii. 
6 lapis, fulgida metnbra tegis, IX. 
iv. 2 cutn caput orbis humo maesta 
sepulcra tegunt; cp. vil. xii. 29, 
47, 31. 84. 

40. pretium mundi] 33. 28 note, 
uilia saxa] Fort. ii. xiv. 22 

diuiliasijtu Dei uilis harena tegit. 

premant] Fort. iv. iv. 32 tton 
pre mil urna rogi. 



45 

41. Is. xl. 12. YoxK. Laus Mariae 
141 cuncta tegens palma sidera, 
rura, freta ; 39. 1 5 mundum pugillo 
continens; Commodian Apol. 114 
solet I inde pugillo sua coruludere 
circulum orbis. For this pushing 
forward of the relative clause, see 
the note on 38. 11. 

42. Cp. Fort. III. x. 18 et 
Jluuium docilem monte uetante Ira- 
kis. 

43. lintea... sudaria] 'the linen 
cloths' of Joh. XX. 6 f., cp. ib. 
xi. 44. 

tolle] ' away with ! ' as being no 
longer needed. 

44. satis es] Fort, often thus 
uses an adv. as a complement to 
esse; cp. e.g. III. xviii. 19 sit tua 
uita diu. This is borrowed from 
popular Latin, a loan taken es- 
pecially by Plautus, Cicero in his 
Epistles, Horace in his Satires, 
Livy and Tacitus, and by later 
writers in general. Caesar says 
longe abesse but not longe esse, which 
is found in Verg. Aen. xil. 52. 
satis, however, is more than an 
ordinary adverb, being used as an 
adjective by Verg. Aen. vii. 470 se 
satis ambobus Teucrisgue uenire 
Lalinisqiie and other writers. 

sine te nihil est] Cp. the Pente- 
cost sequence Daniel il. 35 sim tw> 
numine \ nihil est in homine, \ nihil 
est innoxium. 

45. carceris] Fort. xi.i. 26 descen- 
dens Oil infernum iniuriam non 
pert u lit, quod fecit causa cUmentiae, 
uelut rex intrans carcerem, non ut 
ipse ttnerelur, sed tit noxii solturen- 
fur. The phrase comes from i Pet. 
iii. 19, Rev. ii. 10. Cp. 120. 35. 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



et reuoca sursum quidquid ad ima ruit. 
redde tuam faciem, uideant ut saecula lumen, 

redde diem, qui nos te moriente fugit. 
eripis innumerum populum de carcere mortis 

et sequitur liber, quo suus auctor adit, 
inmaculata tuis plebs haec uegetetur in ulnis 

atque Deo purum pignus ad astra feras. 
una corona tibi de te tribuatur ab alto, 

altera de populo uernet adepta tuo. 



50 



46. The line is no mere repetition 
of 45 ; the sense is, ' restore to heaven 
everything else that is in danger of 
being lost,' as well as the spirits in 
prison, ruit may be perf., but the 
pres. seems more likely. 

reuocareisone of Fort. 's favourite 
words, which he uses of restoring 
the dead to life (viii. iii. r8 etc.), of 
restoring a church (i. xv. 41), of 
winning a triumph (ll. xi. 17). 

48. diem] ' the light of day.' The 
line is an ennobled echo of Martial 
VIII. xxi. I Phospkore, redde diem : 
quidgaiidia nostra moraris ? Caesare 
uenttiro, Phosphore, redde diem ; cp. 
also Hor. Od. iv. v. 5 lucem redde 
tuae, dux bone, patriae. 

fugit] perfect, cp. note on 36. 2 
lauit. 

49. The reference is still to 'the 
harrowing of hell.' 

populum] 'a multitude,' 0.% plebs 
in 51. Fort, may be thinking of 
Sedul. Carm. IV. 3 inniitneras rele- 
uans a clade cateruas ; ib. 282 qui 
dabit innumeras post funera surgere 
turbas ; cp. Fort. x. xi. 7 f. ecce 
dies, in quo Christus surrexit ab 
imo, I infernae legis rumpere uincla 
potens, I quando et uinctorum lacri- 
mantia tnilia soluit, \ et reuomunt 
multos tartara fracta uiros. 

50. quo . . . adit] quo takes the place 
of the dat. found in Fort. X. xiii. 12 
et lapsae fabHcae fios rediuiuus adit 
(where Leo suggests adest). 

51. The last four lines are in the 
original poem addressed to Felix, 



but as used in the hymn they are of 
course addressed to Christ. 

plebs haec] consisting of those 
who having been newly baptized are 
present for the first time at the 
Easter service in their white gar- 
ments. 

uegetetur] ' be nurtured,' cp. 29. 
7. They are already ' regenerate.' 
Leo suggests uectetiir, but no change 
is required. 

in ulnis] because the newly bap- 
tized are regarded as infantes; cp. Is. 
xlix. 22 afferent Jilios tuos in ulnis ; 
Fort. Vit. Mart. il. 10 tnercis onus 
suaue est, etsi ueheretur in ulnis ; 
but cp. Fort. V. vii. 3 amplectens 
quem corde gero pietatis in ulnis. 

52. purum] as cleansed by bap- 
tism. 

pignus] ' an offspring,' like the 
pignora of 30. 3, 31. 8, only here 
collective. The bishop, like Christ, 
is the spiritual father of his flock, as 
1. i. 18 et gradus et pietas te deditesse 
patrem. 

53. de te] ' won by thee,' i.e. by 
thy own personal merit, de in late 
Latin is often used to express the 
instrument or means. The earliest 
instance of this usage may be Plant. 
True. 632 de uento miserae condoluit 
caput; a clear case of it occurs at 
Ov. Trist. III. iii. 82 deque tuis 
lacrimis umida serta data. Ronsch 
p. 392 f. gives many examples from 
later writers. 

54. ' May another crown bloom 
for thee won by thy people.' The 



H YMN XXX VI I. FOR TUNA TVS 1 89 

people's salvation is the proof of So Fort. I. xv. 34 creuit adeptus 

theirbishop's, and of their Saviour's, honor, V. iv. 4, and (the simple 

worth. Cp. Phil. iv. i . uerttet shews verb) Plaut. Trin. 367 ingenio 

that the athlete's wreath of leaves is apiscitur sapientia. Sallust, Tacitus 

the crown here meant ; cp. 7. 24 note. and others use adeptus in passive 

adepta] passive, as at 119. 23. sense. 

Hymn 37 

An ancient MS, a pontifical written at Fort/s own city 
Poitiers and usually assigned to the Vlllth century, is 
the one MS authority for this hymn, which it expressly 
ascribes to Fortunatus : interim canitur uersus Fortunati 
presbyteri ad baptizatos. It is in every way worthy of him, 
and the many parallels quoted in the notes from his un- 
doubted poems seem to prove that he was the writer. 

Leo confidently pronounces it spurious. But as he did 
not so much as take the trouble of reading it in the 
ancient MS that alone contains it, it would seem that he 
took its later origin for granted. 

It appears to have been written before Fort.'s con- 
secration to the episcopate. His latest dated poem 
(x. xiv) was written in A.D. 591. See Elss p. 22. 

The poet has chosen the sprightly Anacreontic metre 
(catalectic iambic dimeter), a metre already used by 
Prudentius for his hymnus ante somniim {Cath. Vl), from 
which Hymn 26 is an extract. 

Fp 
Tibi laus perennis, auctor, 
baptismatis sacrator, 
qui sorte passionis 

I. In accordance with Fort.'s 2. baptismatis sacrator] Cp. 

usage perennis is to be taken with 33. 20 note. ^ 

laus, rather than with auctor, as 3. ' by thy death and passion, 

some punctuate. Cp. Ii. x. 26 laude sorte, thus used in connexion with 

perennis erit; VII. v. 20 laude death, is one of Fort.'s characteristic 

perettne re/ert. words ; thus he has 11. v. 1 extorquet 

auctor] used by Fort. vil. xxii. 5, hoc sorte Dei ueniabile signutn etc. ; 

36_ :j2. IV. ix. I ultima sors; xii. i sors 



I90 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



das praemium salutis. 

nox clara plus et alma 
quam luna, sol, uel astra, 
quae luminum corona 
reddis diem per umbram; 

dulcis, sacrata, blanda, 
electa, pura, pulchra 
sudans honore mella, 
rigans odore chrisma ; 



inreparabilis horae\ xvi, 4 sors 
rapit una uiros; xx. 4 sors inimica; 
xxii. 3 simili sunt sorte sepulti ; cp. 
XXV. 19, xxvi. 5 and 61, and 155; 
xxviii. 5 eic. 

4. das praemium salutis] Cp. 
36. 34 dando salutis openi ; Fort. i. 
viii. 11 praeniia salutis ; 11. vii. 3 f . 
salutis .. .praemia \ II. vii. 37 dantur 
tnodo dona salutis ; X. viii. 12 dona 
salutis habent. 

5. Clara plus et alma] i.e. clarior 
et almior. plus thus used for jyiagis 
is found Fort. iv. xvii. 10 plus 
lacrimanda ; ib. xxvi. 9 plus nexa ; 
VI. V. io<) pia plus, and often. 

nox clara are placed side by side 
in sharp contrast, as are diem and 
umbram in 8. Baptisms took place 
late on Easter Even, and the rest of 
the night was spent in vigil : see 
Thompson Offices of Bapt. and 
Conf. p. 19. 

6. Fort, constantly uses M^/ where 
et might be expected. Leo quotes 
among other examples ix. i. 22 sic 
tibi cuncta simul, terra uel astra 
fauent. 

8. reddis diem] Cp. 36. 48 redde 
diem; Fort. x. xiia. 10 orbato huic 
patri redde uidendo diem. And for 
the whole line 11. xvi. 69 sacra 
lumeti suscepit ab umbra, luminum 
cor. are the lights with which the 
church is glowing. 

9. For this truly Venantian list 
of epithets see the note on 33. 19 
and cp. Fort. IV. iv. 21 mansuetus, 
patiens, bonus, aeguus, amator. 



amandus; i. xv. 103 cara, serena, 
decens, sollers, pia, mitis, opima. 

dulcis] 33. 24, 35. 9, 18, Fort. 
III. xxiifl. 7, IV. vii. 4, xiv. 10 etc., 
VIII. xvii. 5. 

sacrata] Fort. 11. xi. r, xvi. 95. 

blanda] Fort. i. xviii. 16, li. 
viii. 26 etc. 

ID. electa] line 30, 34. 19, 11. 
iv. 21 electa... pulchra (X. vii. 27). 

pura] 36. 52. 

IX. sudans... mella] comes from 
Verg. Eel. iv. 30 stidabunt roscida 
mella ; cp. Fort. vill. iii. 270 aut 
hycu'intheo sudat honore manus. 
The use by Fort, of honore amounts 
to a mannerism, cp. i. i. 10 reddis 
honore uicem, iii. 8 nescit honore 
mori, viii. 2 tendit honore fides etc. 
' odor is an extraordinarily common 
word of Fort, and is used meta- 
phorically of things of the most 
distinct nature' (Elss p. 25); cp. 
also 34. 25, 35. 11, vii. xii. 120 
suauius et recreat quam quod aroma 
refiat; 11. xvi. 15, in. xii. 42, xiii. 
3, VI. vi. 2 ; Vit. Mart. i. 193 
mortis odore. Does viella, joined 
with chrisma, allude to the milk 
and honey given to neophytes ? 
Thompson Offices of Bapt. and Conf. 
p. 35 says that the custom was 
confined to Rtme, Africa, and 
Egypt. 

12. Fort. II. iv. 28 ramts de 
cuius uitalia crismata surgunt ; IV. 
iv. 26 cum sale mella rigans ; V. v. 
112 chrismatis efHat odor ; VII. xvii. 
9 puro fotite rigans nectar. 



HYMN XXXVII. FORTUNATUS 191 

in qua redemptor orbis 

de morte uiuus exit, 

et quos catena uinxit 15 

sepultus ille soluit ; 

quam Christus aperiuit 

ad gentium salutem, 

cuius salubre cura 

redit nouata plasma. 20 



17 aperuit Fp. 

For chrisma (spelt cr'isma at ll. 
iv. 28 so as to fit into an acrostic), 
see 26. 4 note. 

13. in qua] 'on which night.' 
redemptor orbis] Cp. 23. 15, 
33. 3, 36. 27. It seems probable 
that Fort, intended exit and perhaps 
redit, as well as sobtit, to be taken 
as the past tense, contracted like 
redisse 36. 16. 

15. catena] Here, as at 36. 45 f., 
the reference is to the harrowing of 
hell. 

16. sepaltus] Cp. 36. 33 note. 

17. ' Night which Christ revealed 
[made known] for the healing of the 
nations.' aperiuit might also be 
taken in the sense of ' began,' 
' opened out,' as in Claudian de 
Sexto Cons. Honorii 640 nouum 
fastis aperit felicibus annum ; but 
the other interpretation is perhaps 
the simpler. I have by the smallest 
possible change written aperiuit for 
aperuit of the MS which Fort, would 
never have written in this place. For 
this form of the perf. the Thesaurus 
quotes Corp. XI. 191 aperierit; and 
Fort. XI. xxiii. 3 scans aperlebam, 
which is perhaps a clue. Ronsch 
p. 287 quotes similar forms posiui, 
deposiui, supposiui, habiui, sapiui 
etc. And for the scanning dperiui, 
cp. patibulo 34. 4, as well as alacer, 
cdmelus, catholicus, charisma etc. 
all found in Fort. ; see the note on 
35. 1 4 meridie. 

18. ad gentinm salutem] Cp. 
Rev. xxii. 1 (Vulg) ad sanitatem 



19 salubri Fp. 

gentium, (Old Latin) in curationem 
gentium. 

19. cuius refers to nox; and 
cura is used in the medical sense, — 
perhaps with conscious reference to 
the passage in Rev. 

salubre] Cp. Fort. v. ii. 49, vu. 
V. 31 de fonte salubri, X. x. 11. For 
the abl. in -e, used for the sake of 
the short final, see note on 33. 24 
duke clauo. It is quite like Fort, 
to put salubre almost immediately 
after salutem ; cp. the note on 86. 
30 principe principium. 

20. redit] ' is restored' to health. 
Very similar are Fort. Fit. Mart. 

II. 53 excutiturque lues...et sudibus 
laceros rediit cutis una per artus; 

III. 528 redeat medicata cicatrix, 
and not unlike is VII. vii. 6 te duce 
scd nobis hie modo Roma redit. 

nouata] ' renewed ' in baptism ; a 
Venantian word. Cp. II. xi. 8, III. 
xxiii. II, VI. iii. 27, ix. xiv. 11. 

plasma] ' the creation.' This 
word is normally neuter, as at 94. 
26. But Commodian Apol. 311 
writes : descendit in tumulum 
Dominus suae plasmae misertus. 
And Fort, is given to variety in his 
genders; writing v. v. 113 pascha 
nouellum, VIII. ix. 15 gaudia pas- 
chae ; and he hns II. xvi. 135 misero 
aluo. III. iv. 2 tantus iubar, IV. 
XX vi. 15 ingenium mi tern ; and even 
II. viii. 5 est habilem de magnis 
magna fattri, ib. iv. 31 gemmanteni 
et nobile signum, 36. 7 note. For 
the word plasma cp. V. i. i, v. 54 



192 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



accedite ergo digni 
ad gratiam lauacri, 
quo fonte recreati 
refulgeatis agni. 

hie gurges est fidelis, 
purgans liquore mentes 
dum rore corpus udat, 
peccata tergit unda. 

gaudete candidati, 
electa uasa regrii, 

27 sudat F^. 



25 



30 



huius plasma sutnus, and the note 
on 23. 10. 

21. accedite] Cp. 107. 13. 

digni agrees with the subject of 
accedite, like candidati below. 

24. ag^nl] ' lambs,' but perhaps 
not without a thought of the mean- 
ing of the Greek d7J'6s, * pure,' cp. 
36. 52 puriim. As a rule Fort., 
with the other writers of his time, 
reserves agnus to denote Christ, as 
at 33. 30, 35. 4 ; II. iii. 6 in cruce 
restituit uirginis agnus ones, X. xiii. 
3 ; but cp. V. iii. 23 muniat inclusos 
pretiosi uelleris agnos ; III. xi. 19, 

IV. iii. 3, IX. ix. 13; Sedul. Carm. 

V. 413. 

25 f. The use of the six words 
for the baptismal water, lauacri, 
fonte, gurges, liquore, rore, unda is 
quite in Fort.'s manner. 

gurges] 31. 41. 

fidelifi] one of Fort.'s character- 
istic words; see 33. 22 note. Leo 
}^x\x\.\.% fideles with Luchi. But this is 
not the MS reading, gives an inferior 
construction {^est purgans =purgat) 
and sense, and is less in the style 
of Fort. 

26. ptirgans] Fort. 11. ix. 92 
atque uetus uitium purgat in amne 
nouo ; ib. xi. 5 pater orbis \ pur- 
gauit medicis crimina mortis aquis. 

mentes] 2. 30. 

27. rore is used of the baptismal 



water at 26. 3 by Prud., whom 
Fort, so often imitates. 

udat] 'wets.' The ms reading 
sudat, which might come in from 
siidans in 11, gives a poor sense 
and a spondee in the third foot of 
the verse, whereas in the other lines 
this is the case only in the first foot. 
No mistake is more common in Mss 
than inserting at the beginning of a 
word when this begins with a vowel 
the final consonant of the preceding 
word. For the sense cp. [Damas.] 
LXXII. 4 roborat hie antjnos diuino 
fonte lauacrum, et dum membra 
madent, mens solidattir aquis. 

28. tergit] ' washes away,' cp. 

7.3'. 

unda] ' water,' as at 33. 20, 
34. 12. 

29. candidati] 'in your white 
robes' of baptism ; cp. Fort. ill. ix. 
91 candidiis egreditur nitidis exer- 
citus undis ; IV. xxii. 5 lotus fonte 
scuro prius ille recessit in albis ; v. 
V. 119, 136; 109. 2 stolis albis can- 
didi. 

30. electa uasa] Fort. iii. 
xxiiifl. 17 eligit in tali Christus se 
uase recondi; IX. ii. 115 f. sancto 
baptismate puri . . .stantes ante Deum 
uelut aiirea uasa decoris ; X. vi. 3 1 f. 
Of course the poet has in mind 
Acts ix. 15 (cp. 13. II electionis uas 
sacrae). 



H YMN XXX VIII. FOR TUNA TUS 1 93 

in morte consepulti, 
Christi fide renati. 

31. Cp. Rom. vi. 4. From the L. 85 punctuate. Christi, however, 

like passage, Col. ii. 12 consepulti would make perfectly good sense, 

ei in baptismo, we might conjecture either with morte or with /ide, and 

that the original reading in 32 was perhaps would strengthen the end 

Christo (dative), and that this was of the poem, consepulti would 

altered to Christi from the idea that in that case imply Christo under- 

it was to be taken with fide, as stood. 
Daniel IV. 159 and Dx^wts Analecta 

Hymn 38 

The following hymn is not found in the MSS containing 
the collected poems of Fortunatus, but this is very far 
from proving that it is not his work. For in the first place 
the same fate has befallen 34 other poems of his, which 
nevertheless Leo allows to be genuine and prints at 
length on pp. 271-292 of his edition. Moreover hymns 
far more easily than any other form of literary writing 
were apt to go astray, seeing that in the great majority 
of cases they would be incorporated into the liturgical 
books without the writer's name. We know that Hilary 
and Ambrose wrote hymns which are not contained in 
MSS of their collected works. The fact that hymns 33-36 
are exceptionally included among the poems of Fortu- 
natus is due to the fact that they were in the first place 
occasional poems, afterwards used as hymns. In like 
manner Prudentius' hymns were a part of his poems, 
not being originally intended for singing in the public 
services of the church, and therefore, having been handed 
down in the MSS along with these other poems, can be 
certainly identified as his. 

Paul the Deacon expressly states that Fortunatus 

wrote hymnos singularum festiiiitatum. This Christmas 

hymn Agnoscat omne saeculum may be one of them. And 

Fabricius says that he found it in the second book of the 

w. «3 



194 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

poems of Fort, in a Murbach MS, which seems no longer 
to be extant. 

The question of the authenticity of 38 hangs with 
that of 39 and of the Laus Mariae, as it may for con- 
venience be called, a poem consisting of 180 elegiac 
couplets, regarded as spurious by Leo, but printed by 
him p. 371 f., and until the appearance of his edition con- 
sidered genuine. For a careful reader will agree with 
Ebert I. p. 533 note that 39 and this longer poem were 
written by one and the same poet, whoever he may have 
been. And many will go on to believe that he was no 
other than Fortunatus, again agreeing with Ebert, who 
pertinently asks : What man living within the next two 
hundred years was capable of assimilating his style so 
thoroughly? See the question worked out by G. M. Dreves 
in his Hymnologische Studien zu Venant. Fort. etc. p. 6 f. 

Then as to the intimate connexion between 38 and 39, 
one has only to read the two hymns one after the other 
in order to recognise it as at least likely. In especial cp. 

38. 7 f with 39. 9 f., 38. 1 1 f. with 39. 1 5 f., 38. 3 1 f. with 

39. 31 f. However Ebert, who swallows the metrical 
faults in 39, will have it that those in 38 condemn it. 
But a few words will shew that the metre is not so bad 
after all. 

1. Ebert objects to the hiatus in 14. fructiim edidit. 
But Fort. VIII. viii. i (according to the MSS) could leave 
aii (also in thesis) unelided before aurum, much as Ennius 
had scanned militum octo, and Lucilius sordidum omne ; 
cp. also 33. 9 inde host is. 

2. He objects to spondees in the second foot. But in 
13 lese is a foreign proper name, and with such all poets 
take licence; cp. the notes on 11. 2, 31. 29. And as to 
16 uirgd, 23 dignandd, from the time of Juvenal final o 
was generally looked upon as short. And so Leo (p. 425) 



HYMN XXXVIII. FORTUNATUS 195 

speaking of Fort.'s usage, says o finalis in nominatiuis 
nominum, uerbis et adtierbiis fere correpta ; cp. 34. 1 5 dicendd. 

3. In 26 and 28 -us is made long by the stress of the 
verse and by the following h, cp. 36. 39 note. Such a 
strict metrist as Verg. Aen. IV. 64 could say pectoribiis 
inhtans; cp. 34. 2^fundis aroma. 

Contrast the judgment of Clichtoveus : Praesens hytn- 
nus iambiciis est dimeter, ubique carminis illius leges 
exacte seruans praeter id quod in septimo uersu bis secundo 
loco pyrrichium habet pro iambo. Auctor eius Fortunatus 
episcopus. 

The hymn does not indeed rise to the supreme ex- 
cellence of 33 and 34, but it is on the whole not unworthy 
of Fortunatus and may well have been written by him. 
He certainly wrote one beginning with the same line, 

I. xvi, an alphabetical hymn about Leontius bishop of 
Bordeaux ; but he may have written another as well. 

If he did write both 38 and 39, we are confronted with 
the difficulty that, whereas 39 is in almost every hymnal 
from the IX-X cent, onwards, 38 found its way into 
very few. However the same has happened in the case 
of several of Ambrose's hymns, e.g. 3 and 4. 

4. In 9 we find conc^pit and in 27 dei^cit, which might 
have been presents in Lucretius (see Lachmann on Lucr. 

II. 951), but which in this passage are certainly perfects. 
See the note on 35. 2 Iciuit, which is also perfect. 

Ehx^ Fs)3 Ga Hcefgh lach Vs 
Agnoscat omne saeculum 
uenisse uitae praemium ; 
post hostis asperi iugum 
adparuit redemptio. 

1. onrne 8.] No doul)t a reminis- of life,' i.e. 'consisting in life': 
cence of 6. 7. that Christ who is our life has 

2. uita« praemium] ' the reward come ; cp. 8. 9 note. 



196 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



Esaias quae praecinit 
conpleta sunt in uirgine, 
adnuntiauit angelus, 
sanctus repleuit Spiritus. 

Maria uentre concepit 
uerbi fidelis semine ; 
quern totus orbs non baiulat, 
portant puellae uiscera. 

radix lese iam floruit 
et uirga fructum edidit, 
fecunda partum protulit 
et uirgo mater permanet. 



15 



5 cecinit Ehj. 10 uerbum Ex^ Fs Ih Vs. fideli Ga. 11 orbis 

Fs Ih. 12 portat Fs Vs. 13 om. iam Ga. 14 fructus Ex, 

fructu Vs. 



3. post. . .iugnm] For this preg- 
nant use oi post, ' after our enduring 
the yoke,' cp. 36. 17 note. Perhaps 
the cruel enemy thought of is Pha- 
raoh, typifying Satan, though this 
thought is more usually connected 
with Easter, as in 109. 

4. adparuit] Tit. ii. 11, iii. 4. 

5. Isaiah vii. 14. 

6. in uirg^nej Cp. 14. 1 3 in illo 
martyre. 

7. Lk. i. 35. 

10. uerbi] the faithful word spoken 
to her by the angel ; cp. Prud. 
Apoth. 1 1 5 f. uerbo praestrinxit uis- 
cera pur ae I uirginis et uerbo struxit 
puerilia membra \ Sedul. Op. 1 1. 3 
puellae credentis in utero fidelis uerbi 
mansit adspirata conceptio ; Fort. 
VIII. iii. 91 concipiente fide nulla se 
semine lusit, where see the context ; 
31. 16, 39. II. The variant uerbum 
would refer to Job. i. 14. 

fidelis] 33. 12, 34. 14, 37. 25. 

11. quern...] Fort, is especially 
fond of thus beginning with the 
relative clause, the antecedent being 
omitted ; cp. i. i. 10 qui tibi dipta 
dedit reddis honor e tiicem; vii. 12, 
xvi. 23, II. v. 2, II. vii. 41 quern 



Tfiale credebas obilu finire salutem, \ 
dat uitam multis; vi. iv. 19 qui 
sine ueste iacet, legmen pielate mi- 
nistras; vii. xx. 3 f., xxv. 26, IX. 
ii, 75; 36.41, 39. 5f., 23 f. 

ot\a\ = orbis (lerrarum), a late 
form found at Fort. ix. iii. 14 orbs 
quoque totus, Vit. Mart. iv. 583, 
Laus Mariae 358. Ronsch p. 263 
mentions similar syncopated nomi- 
natives, nubs, saeps, slips. 

baiulat makes a better antithesis 
than, and is therefore here put for, 
the usual capit. See 31. 1 1 note. 

12. puellae is thus used of the 
Virgin, Fort. viii. iii. 85 respice qui 
uoluit nasci se uentre puellae, ib. 
95; Laus Mariae 3, 67, 142, 216, 
231 ; cp. VI. i. 99, VIII. iii. 276, 
iv. 4, 23. 

13. radix lese] Is. xi. i, 10, 
Rom. XV 12, 1. 4. Prud. Cath. xil. 
49 f. iam flos subit Dauiticus \ ra- 
dice lesse editus, \ sceptrique per uir- 
gam uirens \ rerum cacumen occupat. 

Dreves and others, in order to 
bring an iambus into the second 
foot of the verse, write radix lesse, 
omitting iam which is found in 
almost all the Mss. But see intro- 



HYMN XXXVIIL FORTUNATUS 197 



praesepe poni pertulit, 
qui lucis auctor exstitit : 
cum Patre caelos condidit, 
sub matre pannos induit. 

legem dedit qui saeculo, 
cuius decem praecepta sunt, 
dignando factus est homo 
sub legis esse uinculo. 

Adam uetus quod polluit, 
Adam nouus hoc abluit : 
tumens quod ille deiecit, 



20 



25 



1 1 saeculi Fs Vs. 

duction to this hymn. And P'ort.'s 
way is to treat initial consonantal i 
as a consonant (as at Vlll. iii. 286) 
or to disregard it (as at IX. ii. 27), 
but not to regard it as a vowel. 

14. uirga] The poet understands 
the uirga to be Mary, and plays 
upon the words uirga and uirgo, cp. 
Latis Mariae 1 1 uirgo haec uirga 
ftiit, de qua est Jlos Christus abortus. 

fructum ed. is not in Vulg. or 
O. L., but it is a natural interpreta- 
tion, and according to the R.V. a 
correct one. 

16. uirgO] See introduction and 
cp. Fort. IX. vii. 30 ib5, 61 scitti, 65 
ergd, 86 solttS. 

fj. praesepe ..pertulit] Cp. 31. 
21 f., and for the rhythm of the line 
Fort. I. xvi. 9 celare se /ton pertulit, 
and for the abl. in e instead of i 
33. 24 note. Perhaps, however, the 
writer imitating Plautus has used the 
abl. not oi praesepe but of a collateral 
form of the word, 'though we are 
not to think of a nominative prae- 
sepes,^ Huemer de Sedulii . . .scriptis 
p. 26 f. ; cp. Plaut. Cure. 228 ad 
praesepem suani ; Sedul. Carnt. II. 
62 Deus in praesepe quieuit. 

18. exstitit] exstare is often used 
by Fort, meaning little more than 
esse, as at vi. \a. 20, x. xi. 28 et re- 
leuate inopes, si quis et exstat egens. 



27 deicit Fs Vs. 

20. pannos] 33. 14 note. 

21. 'He who gave law to the 
world, whose are the ten com- 
mandments, was made man, deign- 
ing to be under the bond of the 
law.' For the thought of the stanza 
cp. Laus Mariae 255 factor dans 
legem, factus sub lege minister; 
Sedul. Carm. 11. 38 rerumque crea- 
tor I tmscendi sub lege fuit ; id. Op. 

11. 3 prolesque siderea nasceiuii sub 
lege delittiit, quae cuncta suo nasci 
nutu concessit. All such passages 
are based upon Gal. iv. 3. 

23. dignando] Cp. 32. 26, 42. 

12, 26, 42, 104. 20. For the use of 
the gerund see 21. 1 1. 

25 f. I Cor. XV. 45, Eph. iv. 22 
depone re. . . ueterem honiinem . 

26. nouus hoc] For Fort.'s treat- 
ment of ^ see 36. 32. 

27. 'What Adam by his pride 
(shewn in disobeying God) over- 
threw, Christ by His great humility 
raises up.' The neuter words ^«^rf... 
hoc remind us of 31. 8 ne perderet 
quod condidit. For the general sense 
of the two lines cp. Prov. iii. 34, 
Lk. i. 53, Jas. iv. 6, i Pet. v. 5 and 
other passages. Fort. VI. ii. 33 cal- 
cauit hostes lumidos, erexit arnicas ; 
ib. 109 erigis abiectos. 

tumens] ' swelling with pride,' as 
Deut, i. 43 tumentes superbia. The 



198 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

humillimus hie erigit. 

iam nata lux est et salus, 

fugata nox et uicta mors : 30 

uenite, gentes, credite ! 

Deum Maria protulit. 

word is a favourite one of disparage- utero lucem clausit; ix. ii. 43 mor- 

ment with Fort.; cp. iv. xiv. 14 tern gustante salute \ yi. x, ^ concepit 

discipulus hutnilis, qui fuit ante tu- uirgo salutem ; Juvenc. III. 356 

mens, V. v. 22, viii. iii. 290. Dauidis suboles^hominuvi lumenque 

deiecit] perf. in spite of the short salusque. 

penultimate, for which cp. note on 30. Cp. i. xv. 56 itox ubi uicta 

35. 2 Iduit. fugit. 

28. humiUimus] Mt. xi. 29, 31. Cp. Fort, i, xvi. 77 uenite 
Phil. ii. 8. dues flaudite; v. iii. i plaudite, 

29. For the personal use of the felices popuU; 39. 32. 
abstracts cp. Fort. i. xv. 58 ilia 32. Cp. 4. 29. 

Hymn 39 

For the authorship of this hymn see the introduction 
to 38, probably written by the same poet. Here we have 
two cases of hiatus : in 24 and 28. 

Eacdhjlsvi;/^ FdhpsjS Gafm Habcdefgi Ibdghnotv Vcs 

Quem terra, pontus, aethera 
colunt, adorant, praedicant, 
trinam regentem machinam 
claustrum Mariae baiulat. 

cui luna, sol et omnia 5 

deseruiunt per tempora, 
perfusa caeli gratia 
gestant puellae uiscera. 

I . For the triple division of the haps nowhere else is the word used 

elements so common in Fort, see so absolutely in this sense. 

23. 6, 33. 21 notes. baiulat] see 31. 11. 

aethera] neuter plural, as at 6. per tempora] ' through their 

36. 7. seasons ' ; cp. 2. 3 note, and the in- 

3. trinam machinam] see 23. 6, troduction to that hymn, per has 
cp. Fort. III. vi. 52 et Trinitatis here its distributive sense, deserui- 
opem machina tnna sonet. The sense unt, Ps. cxviii. (cxix.) 91. 

is like that of 38. 1 1 f. 7. Lk. i. 26. 

4. claustrum] see 6. 14. Per- 8. puellae] Cp. 38. 12 note. 



HYMN XXXIX. FORTUNATUS 199 

mirentur ergo saecula, 

quod angel us fert semina, 10 

quod aure uirgo concipit 

et corde credens parturit. 

beata mater munere, 

cuius supernus artifex, 

mundum pugillo continens, 15 

uentris sub area clausus est. 

benedicta caeli nuntio, 

fecunda sancto Spiritu, 

desideratus gentibus 

cuius per aluum fusus est. 20 

o gloriosa femina, 

excelsa super sidera ! 

qui te creauit prouide, 

lactas sacrato ubere. 

quod Eua tristis abstulit, 25 

9 mirantur Elv/i Idho Vs. lo nuntia Gm. 1 1 uerbo (pro 

aure) Id. concepit Ecdhl^ Fp Ido Vs'. 13 Maria (pro munere) He 

Ih, muneris Ha^. 15 contines Hi- 17 beata Eav^ Fdhp/S 

Ibgntv Vcs-. 21 domina E^ Fd- lb. 24 lecta Ec Habc'd* 

Igh Vcs. sacrata Ec. 

12. credens] Cp. 38. 10; Fort. 19. Construe cuius per aluum 
VI 11. iii. 91 concipienU fide. desideratus gentibus (from Hag. ii. 

13. munere] 'in her office.' 8, cp. Gen. xlix. 10) fusus est. 

14. artifex] 'creator,' cp. Heb. 20. fosus est] Cp. 24. 19 note, 
xi. 10 cuius artifex et conditor 22. excelsa] vocative ; cp. Laus 
Deus ; Cypr. de Hab. Virg. 2 1 Alariae 2 1 2 celsa super cedros ; 319 
estate tales quales uos Deus artifex decus exce Ileus, femina forma 
fecit. Here cuius goes with uentris, salutis. Fort, takes a liberty with 
not with artifex. the u of super. 

15. pug^illo] Cp. 36. 41 note. 23. prouide] 91. 6, \\ke prudens 

16. uentris sub area] Cp. Fort. in Horace. 

IV. xi. 4 cuius semper hahet pectoris 24. Cp. Fort. VIII. iii. 103 in- 

area Deum; vil.viii. 36; Vit. Mart. temerata Deum suspendit ad ubera 

I. 185; Laus Alariae 154 infra nalum, et panem caeli munere laetis 

arcam ahscondensfulgida luna iuhar ; alit ; 31. 23. -to ubere forms a violent 

Vit. Mart. III. 443 quae fades, hiatus. 

oculi, gena, pes, manus, area, figura. 25. Cp. Sedul. Carm. \\. 30 f. 

There is probably a tacit allusion to sic Euae de stirpe sacra ueniente 

the ' ark of the covenant.' Maria uirginis antiqitae facinus 

17. benedicta] Lk. i. 28. noua uirgo piaret ; Fort. III. ix. 99 



200 EARLY LA TIN H YMNS 

tu reddis almo germine ; 
intrent ut astra flebiles, 
caeli fenestra facta es. 

tu regis alti ianua, 

et porta lucis fulgida : 30 

uitam datam per uirginem 
gentes redemptae plaudite. 
26 aluo Fh^. 28 est Ec. 29 alta El. 31 uita data Ed Iv^. 

quos prius Eua nocens infecerat, has person ill. vii. \oiantiafida Petrus. 

modo reddit \ eccUsiae pastes ubere, Cp. Amob. adu. Nat. 11. 65 hanc 

lacte, sinu ; Laits Mariae 125 hu- u>tae,utitadixeritii,iani4am;Sedv\. 

mano generi genuit qtws Eua dolores. Op. V. 29 pia genetrix...qitae fuit 

curauit genitus uirgo Maria tuus. nascentis ianua. There is doubtless 

26. germine] Is. iv. 2 in die ilia a reference to Ezek. xliv. 2. 

erit germen Domini. 30. porta is used of the \"irgin 

27. astra] 'heaven,' cp. 36. 19 Laus Marine i,\; 88. i. 
note. lucis] Cp. 38. 29 note. 

28. C'p. Laus Mariae f,6 materna 31. datrfvm] sc. esse, as 1. 64 etc. 
et puero membra fenestra fuit. Note 32. See 38. 31 note; Ps. xlvi. 
the hiatus. (xlvii.) 2 omnes gentes plaudite mani' 

29. ianua is used by Fort, of a bus. 



VII. FLAVIUS 



Hymn 40 

The most ancient authority that ascribes this hymn to 
Flavius is the pontifical of Poitiers, cp. introduction to 
37 p. 189, in which the rubric is iiersus Flauii episcopi ad 
niandatum in cena Domini. Flavius was bishop of Ch&lon- 
sur-Saone and died A.D. 591. 

The hymn is rhythmical, mainly based upon the accent 
of each word, and spondees are freely admitted into the 
second foot of the verse, 

Ednvx^ Fehmnrs Gefgl Hi Im Vhs 

Tellus ac aethra iubilent 
in magni cena principis, 
quae protoplasti pectora 
uitae purgauit ferculo. 

I aether Vs. iubilant Ed Ge. 3 qui Gel. pectore Vs. 4 fercula Vs, 
ferculum Im. 

1. For this appeal to heaven and of life given in the Eucharist, but 
earth cp. Ps. Ixviii. (Ixix.) 34. his system as inherited by us is thus 

aethra] 'heaven,' strictly a^M^/j purified and healed. 
splendor qui seretio caeli conspicitur, 4. ultae...ferculo] 'by the ban- 
as Servius notes on Verg. Aen. ill. quet of life,' i.e. the life-giving 
585. banquet. 'The food of life is a 

2. principis] 24. 10 note. reminiscence of the 'tree of life' 

3. protoplasti] Adam, as at 33. and of the ' bread of life.' The ex- 
4, 112. 16; cp. note on 23. 10. pression is caught up in a more 
Adam's body is regarded as poisoned famous hymn (the Verbum super- 
by eating of the forbidden fruit ; num prodUns of Thomas Aquinas, 
the Eucharist is the antidote, — see AnaUcta L. p. 588), line 1 prius 
Ignatius' (pap/naKov deavafflas, dfri- in uitae ferculo \ se tradidit discipu- 
5oToi Tou fiT] dirodaveiv. It is of lis. ferculum originMy meant 'a 
course inexact to say that Adam's charger ' or ' dish,' then that which 
own system is purified by the food was thereon. 



202 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



hac nocte factor omnium 
potenti sat mysterio 
carnem suam cum sanguine 
in escam transfer! animae. 
a celsis surgens dapibus 
praebet formam mortalibus, 
humilitatis gratia 
Petri petens uestigia. 
pallet seruus obsequio, 
cum angelorum dominum 
ferendo lympham linteo 
cernit caeno procumbere. 



15 



6 potentis at mysterium Ed^ Im Vh (p. ad m. Ev), potentis ac mysterii 
Gel, potentiae mysterio En (-ium Vs). 9 accisis {pro a celsis) Im. 

10 praebens Fe. 12 petit Fe. 13 pallens Im, debet Vs. obsequi 

Vs. 15 ferentem Fr. limpha Im. linteum Ge. 16 cena Edv. 



5. factor] 1. 9. 

6. ' in a most mighty mystery.' 
sat strengthens potenti, like assai in 
Italian. Cp. Is. Ixiv. 9 ne irascaris 
Domine satis, ' be not wroth very 
sore ' and many other places in the 
Vulg. ; 104. 24. The variants shew 
the perplexity of copyists. The text 
is found in the French MSS ehnr. 

8. transfert] ' changes,' — but it 
is a curious use of the word. Cp. 
Jude 4 gratiam transferentes in 
luxuriam. 

9f. Joh. xiii. 4f. Cp. Ambr. de 
My St. 31 lesus in euangelio lauit 
pedes discipiilis suis...[Petrus^ tion 
adtiertit inysterium et idea minis- 
terium recusatiit, quod grauari 
hnmilitatem serui crederet, si obse- 
quium Domini patienter admitteret. 

celsis] perhaps in reference to its 
Paschal character, as well as to 
the Eucharist, is in contrast with 
humilitatis in 11. 

10. praebet] Cp. Tit. ii. 7 ie 
ipsum praebe exemplum. 

formam] ' a pattern,' cp. 2 Thess. 
iii. 9 ut nosmet ipsos formavi dare- 
mus nobis ad imitandum nos. For 



the general sense cp. Joh. xiii. 15, 
on which of course the line is based. 

1 2 . petens] ' approaching.' In 
late Latin this verb often loses all 
idea of ' seeking ' ; see 124. 20. 
Fort, uses it as a synonym of ire, 
cp. I. vi. 16 quacumque petit ; Vlll. 
i. 52 super astra petit. 

uestigia] 'the feet,' as at 34. 6; 
cp. 13. 13 note. 

13. senilis is used because ' the 
Lord of angels ' is waiting upon 
him (Joh. xiii. 13), and probably 
with a further reference to 2 Pet. i. 
r . There is a like contrast Domini.. . 
send at 111. 1 8 f 

obsequio] ' at the service offered 
to him ' ; cp. Ambr. in Luc. v. 98 
deniqtie \^Petrtis'\ alibi lauari sibi 
pedes recusal, ubi mysterium non 
agnoscit, dum dominico grauatur 
obsequio; Juvenc. III. 609 hominis 
natus sic uestra tninister \ obsequio 
solus proprio pia munera geslat. 

15. ferendo] =7^rd?«/^w of some 
MSS ; see 21. 11. 

linteo] ' together with a towel,' 
Joh. xiii. 4. The abl. is a very loose 
abl. of attendant circumstance ; ac 



HYMN XL. FLA VI US 



203 



' permitte Simon ablui ; 

acta figurant mystica, 

dum summus ima baiulo, 

quod cinis seruet cineri.' 20 

lauator toris accubat, 
uerbique fauos aggerat, 
quos inter hostem denotat, 
necis dolos qui ruminat. 

trux lupe, luda pessime, 25 

fers agno miti basia, 
das membra loris regia 
quae sorde tergunt saecula. 

18 figuram Im, figura Gel. 19 sumus Im. baiulat Env Im Vs 

(-let Ed). 20 qui Ed. seruit Ev, seruias Vs. 22 adgregat 

Fn Gl. 23 hostes Im. deuotat Vs. 24 necisque dolos Fh. 

25 luda lupe Fe. 26 raitti Fe Vh. 27 dans Edv. rigida Vs. 

28 sordes Ev Im Vs. saeculi Im Vs. 



linteum of later Mss gives the same 
sense. 

16. Note the exa^eration of ' in 
the mud.' 

1 7 f. The stanza contains the 
words of Christ to Peter. 

1 7. ' Allow thyself to be washed, ' 
' consent to be washed ' ; the subject 
of the inf. (fe) is omitted. See 
38. 17. 

18 f. i.e. My actions, which thou 
understandest not {mystica, cp. Joh. 
xiii. 7), depict (are a type of) what 
respect mortal should render to 
mortal. For the general sense cp. 
Gal. vi. 2. 

19 f. is a paraphrase of Joh. xiii. 

13-15- 

19. dum... bai.] 'in carrying,' ex- 
planatory of acta. 

ima] the water and towel, the 
instraments of homely work. 
baiulo] Cp. 31. 11. 

20. cinis] one who is but dust 
and ashes ; cp. Gen. xviii. 27. 

seruet is used for the compound 
obseriiet. 



21. lauator] =^»( latter at. 
accubat] 1. 29 note. 

22. lit. 'and heaps up honey- 
combs of the word,' i.e. 'utters 
much discourse as sweet as honey.' 
The metaphor is a very common 
one, cp. e.g. Ps. xviii. (xix.) 10, 
Prov. xvi. 24, Cant. iv. ti, Ambr. 
in Ps. cxviii. xiii. 23, xiv. 2^ fauos 
ore fingere, nulla ore componere ; 
Ennod. Epist. xiii. dum fauos 
loqueris\ Fort. VII. i. 19 aedificas 
sermone fauos ; vii. vii. 74 construis 
ore fauos. 

23. quos inter] i.e. in the course 
of these words. 

hostem] viz. Judas, Joh. xiii. 
21 f. 

24. ruminat] ' is plotting.' The 
word in this sense is only ante- and 
post-classical. Vergil and others 
use it in its literal sense of cattle 
chewing the cud. 

26. Mt. xxvi. 48 f. 

27. loris] 'to the thongs' that 
bound Him. 

28. tergunt] Cp. 7. 31, 37. 28. 



204 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



nexi soluuntur hodie 
carnis ac cordis carcere ; 
unguen sacratur chrismatis : 
spes inde crescit miseris. 

uictori mortis inclitam 
pangamus laude gloriam, 
cum Patre et sancto Spiritu 
qui nos redemit obilu. 



30 



35 



29 nexis E0 GI. 30 cordis ac carnis Fn (cordis a carnis Fe). a {.pro 
ac) Fh Im. 31 unguens Fe Im, unguem Ev, unguentum En Gl 

(-to Vs), tingens Ed. sacri \'s, sacrantur Im, sacratus Vh. crismate Ed. 
32 unde Ev Fn. crescat Ev, datur En Gl. 33 inclita Gefl Vs, 

inclito En Fe Gg. 34 laudem Im, laudis Vs. Christe (/w 1.) Fe. 

35 ac {.pro et) Ed Vs. 



29. hodie] ' on this day,' when 
the absolutions were pronounced on 
those who had undergone penance 
dnring Lent. 

30. carnis... caxcere] 'from the 
imprisonment to which flesh and 
heart were consigned ' ;— ' flesh ' 
because the penance partly con- 
sisted in fastings and other bodily 
mortifications, cordis is probably 
chosen, rather than some other 
word, for the sake of the alliteration, 
and refers to the humiliation of the 
soul. For a comparison of the peni- 



tential discipline to imprisonment, 
see Cypr. Ep. LV. 20. 

31. Cp. 27. 32 ; Lact. Phoen. 
119 unguine balsa meo; Fort. V. v. 
103 hinc oleare otiium perfunditur 
unguine uellus. 

chrismatis is the identical gen. 
See 26. 4. 

33. inclitam is used as at 92. 
16 ; cp. also 89. 19, 104. 15, 126. 3. 

34. pangamus] Cp. 33. i. 
36. Imitated from 31. 88. 
obitu] ' by His death. ' 



VIII. ANONYMOUS HYMNS 

THE EARLIER HYMNAL 
Hymn 41 

We now come to the second class of hymns, those of 
which the writers are no longer known by name. These, 
as might be expected, are many more in number than 
those which can with any degree of certainty be ascribed 
to a particular writer. 

Daniel IV. 28 quotes a passage from Ambrose which 
the writer of 41 clearly had in mind : in Ps. CXVIII. viii. 
45 f. docet te propheta quomodo teneas Dominuni lesum. 
media node, inquit, surgebam ad confitendum tibi. lb. 47 
tempus est poenae...non enim otiose Dominus Deus noster, 
cum posset quocumque momento primitiua Aegyptiorum 
exstinguere, hoc tamen tempus dolori et luctui peccatoris 
opporttmius iudicaiiit. sic enim scriptum est, quia media 
nocte primogeniti Aegyptiorum liberi ab extenninatore sint 
interempti. lb. 49 non otiose Paulus apostolus et Silas 
trusi in carcerem, media tamen nocte surgebant mentis 
uestigio, exorabant Dominum et laudis sacrificium defere- 
bant, ideoque ubi tion defuit deuotionis officium, adfuit 
etiam absolutionis remedium. subito enim media nocte 
terrae motus /actus est grandis, ita ut mota essent funda- 
menta carceris, ualuae apertae, omnium uincula soluta. 
lb. 52 solet sponsus media nocte uetiire : caue ne te dor- 
mientem. inueniat, caue ne facem tuam non queas somno- 
lentus accendere. 

As to the use of the hymn Caesarius of Aries writes : 
alia nocte ad primum nocturnum dicendum est Mediae 
noctis tempus est ; i.e. in alternation with 42 Rex aeterne 
Domine] cp. Blume Cursus p. 37. And with this agrees 



2o6 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

the witness of the older hymnals, but X/XI cent. MSS 
appoint it for Nocturn in Lent. 

It will be observed that this hymn differs metrically 
from all that have preceded it in this volume. Most of 
them have been guided by the rules of classical prosody, 
though those rules have been freely dispensed with from 
time to time, especially under the influence of the accen- 
tuation of the words. The present hymn pays little 
regard even to accent, none to quantity. It can begin a 
line with mediae or obuiam, and end one with peccatorum 
or mereamur. To cut the words into lines of eight 
syllables each is almost the only law by which the writer 
is governed. 

As to the writer : Niceta, Bishop of Remesiana in 
Dacia, was a writer of hymns, though no complete col- 
lection of them has come down to us. He also composed 
two tractates, which we possess, de Vigiliis and de Bono 
Psahnodiae. What if the hymn Mediae noctis tempus est 
should be one of his hymns, composed for singing in the 
vigils for which he contended so strongly ? in the night 
seasons which he declares to be hyninis lectionibusque 
fecundas (p. 56, ed. Burn)? It is true that the arguments 
for observing midnight as a time for prayer and praise 
are not identical in the hymn and the tractate ; — but in 
both stress is laid on the 'prophetic' passage, Psalm cxviii. 
62 (p. 60), and in both the example of Paul and 'Sileas' 
is referred to. The Trinitarian doctrine of the hymn is 
that of Niceta: see p. T,y perfectam Trinitatem adorantes, 
and fides integra Trinitatis ; cp. p. 1 3 where the Nicene 
de substantia Patris is discussed. The phrase Patri in- 
genito, contrasted with {Filio) unigenito, belongs rather 
specially to the age of Niceta; cp. Burn pp. 20, 39. 
Particular turns of expression and choice of words in 
the hymn may be illustrated from Niceta. Its very first 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN XLI 207 

words inay recall nox ecce est caligo corporis, p. 55. In 
lines 17, \?) flebat fortiter is WV^ fortiter canens, p. 71 ; 
funera is like quae et qualia eis funera manerent (ib.) ; 
while tantorum = tot is frequent in Niceta : see p. 1 1 
tantarum reriim immensitateni ; p. 35 haec tanta ac talia ; 
p, 6 1 haec et humsmodi tanta et talia ; p. 78 cum tantis ac 
talibus Sanctis. The combination uigilemus sobrie in 37 
is of course biblical, but Niceta not only quotes the 
passages (pp. 63, 64) ; he insists very emphatically upon 
the sobriety of the Christian's vigil, p. 66. With conlau- 
dantes in 44 cp. conlaudo eos, p. 68. 

If Niceta was the author of the TV Deum, lines 3 f and 
46 would run naturally from his pen. The thought of the 
jiincla peccatorum in 47 occurs on p. 39 uincula serpen- 
tijia, quae stringunt aninias hominum, etc. The phrase 
sancte credentimn in 48 may be a reminiscence of Jude 
20, but Niceta is fond of expressions Wkeprofessio sancta, 
p. 13 ; omnia pie intellegenda sunt, p. 16; fideliter uene- 
rando and honorificent integre Trinitatem, p. 36 ; pia con- 
fessio in Deum, p. 40. In 51 f ut mereamur . . .concinere is 
a somewhat common kind of phrase, but we may com- 
pare quo adiutus a Domino... canere possis et tu aliquando 
merearis dicere, etc., p. 58. From p. 80 chori concinentis 
and its context, it may be supposed that concinere in 52 
has its proper meaning of 'singing in concert.' 

Eo Fsi// Hbdr I^5n Mafk Vrs 
Mediae noctis tempus est : 
prophetica uox admonet 
I medium Maf, media Vr. tempore Eo Hr Ma. 

1. tempuB est is shewn to be that of the Psalmist ; the reference is 
the original text by the agreement to Ps. cxviii. (cxix.) 62. propheta is 
in wording of the quotation by Cae- used of David at 60. 36, 62. 8, 66. 
sarius with the oldest MSS. tempore 10, 82. 6, cp. Mt. xin. 35, Acts 11. 
would come from line 41. 30, and very often m Niceta. 

2. ' The voice of the prophet ' is 



2o8 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

dicamus laudes ut Deo 
Patri semper ac Filio, 

sancto quoque Spiritui ; 5 

perfecta enim Trinitas 
uniusque substantiae 
laudanda semper nobis est. 

terrorem tempus hoc habet, 

quo, cum uastator angelus lo 

Aegypto mortes intulit, 

deleuit primogenita. 

haec hora iustis salus est, 

quos ibidem tunc angelus 

ausus punire non erat, 15 

signum formidans sanguinis. 

3 domino (pro ut deo) Eo Hr Mafk Vr. 4 oin. ac Vr. et Mafk. 

7 quoque (pro -que) Vr. 8 laudando Mf. 9 terrorum Hbd Vrs. 

(pro hoc uersu) medium (mediae) noctis tempore Mafk. 10 quod Fs Hd^ 
In Vs. quocumque Hr. pergens (pro quo cum) Mafk. 1 1 mortem 

Hbdr^ IXn Vrs. 12 delet EoS diluit Mafk. 13 iustis 

hora Fs Hbd INn Vs. 14 et quos idem IX, in quos idem In, in qua 

idem Fs Hb Vs, in quo hisdem Hd. 15 puniri Hbd IX Vr. 

16 signi Mf. 

6. perfects, Trinitas] see 1. 60 Append, iv. 6 quando uel wide tut 
note. Cp. Niceta de Spir. S. 22 nuntiet aura boni; Mulomed. C^iV. 
perfectam Trinitatem adorantes. ^. d)-; . ^ infunditur anacallidis tritae ; 

7. substantiae] used in the Vul- 175. 16 admisceto mellis quam op- 
gate of Heb. i. 3, iii. 14 etc. to timi; 180. 16 stimilo turis boni. 
represent the iijr^trrafrts of the Greek. It must be owned, however, that 
Here it is, of course, to be taken in terroris would be more natural in 
the sense which it bears, for in- this sense than the plural. 

stance, in the Quicumque uult. 10. quo] 'at which.' 

9 f . Exod. xii. The variant ter- 12. primogenita] neuter, as at 
rorum is perhaps the original, as Ps. cxxxiv. 8, because 'all the first- 
being more difficult, and may be born of beasts' were smitten, as 
defended by such passages as Plant. well as of men, Exod. xi. 5. 
Poen. 642 boni de nostra tibi nee i3f. Exod. xii. 2 3f.,cp. 109. 9f. 
ferimus nee damns; Most. ioi7f. 14. ibidem] i.e. in Egypt. 
mecum ut ille hie gesserit, \ dum tu 15. ausus... non erat] 'did not 
hinc abes, negoti? Ter. Phorni. 709 dare.' For the force of the pluperf. 
ante brumam autem noui negoti in- see 95. 10 note. 
cipere; Fort. vi. v. 168 si uenit, 17. Exod. xii. 30. Aegypttis 
ipsa mihi nuntiet aura boni; id. stands for 'the Egyptians,' as at 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN XLI 209 

Aegyptus flebat fortiter 

tantorum dira funera, 

solus gaudebat Israhel, 

agni protectus sanguine. 20 

nos uerus Israhel sumus ; 
laetamur in te, Domine, 
hostem spernentes et malum 
Christi defensi sanguine. 

ipsum profecto tempus est, 25 

quo uoce euangelica 
uenturus sponsus creditur, 
regni caelestis conditor. 

occurrunt sanctae uirgines 

18 natorum Eo Fs Hbdr^ Vs, tantarum Mafk. diro funere IX \'r. 
%\ uero Hbdr. 22 laetemur Eo F^ Hbd'r In. 23 hostes Fs 

Hb Vs. immanem {pro et malum) Hd In, immanes Fs Hb Vs. hostem 
prosternentes malum Mafk. 24 redempti Vr. 25 {pro hoc iterum 

uersu) medium (mediae) noctis tempore Mafk, 26 per uocem -am Mk. 

oni. quo Maf. 29 occurrent Hd^ Mafk. 

Ps. civ. (cv.) 38 ; so Itidaea for participle in the sense of a finite 

the Jews 1. 52 note, cp. Israhel in verb is very common, see e.g. Leo's 

1 9. Fortunattis p. 4 u . No hymn writer 

fortiter] ' loudly,' ' bitterly ' ; cp. would shrink from using spernentes 

Jud. viii. \ iutgantes fortiter \ Dan. =spernimus. ^/ (like «/ in 3) is out 

V. 7 exclamauit... for titer \ Niceta of place, as often in late poets, cp. 

de Psalmod. 4 in cithara.. fortiter Fort. VI. i. 42 molliter incumbens et 

canens. inhaesitflammamedulUs. It was no 

18. tantorum] 'so many,' a late doubt the difficulty caused thereby 

usage, the first traces of which we that made some of the later copyists 

find in Propert. I. v. 10 milia auhstitute /mwanem (or et ma/um. 
qitatita. It became common, cp. 25. profecto] 'moreover,' here 

e.g. Joh. vi. 9 sed haec quid sunt used as a particle of transition to 

inter tantos? Fort. xi. ix. 7 portitor another point ; cp. its use at 14. 26 

ad tantos missus non sufficit uiius. note. 

See the references to Niceta in the 26 f. Mt. xxv. i f., especially 6. 

Introd. 27. uenturus] sc. esse which is 

21. uerus Israhel] 'the true usually omitted with the future, 

Israel,' answering to St Paul's often with the past, participle, 
phrase ' the Israel of God,' Gal. vi. 28. There is a reference to the 

(6, cp. Rom. ii. 28, ix. 6. first words of the parable, 'the 

23. 'and we laugh to scorn our kingdom of heaven,' Mt. xxv. i. 
malicious enemy,' viz. the devil, 29. sanctae is contrasted with 

cp. 6. 27 etc. The use of the present stultae in n- 



210 



EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 



obuiam tunc aduentui, 30 

gestantes claras lampadas, 
magno laetantes gaudio. 

stultae uero remanent, 

quia stinctas habent lampadas, 

frustra pulsantes ianuam 35 

clausa iam regni regia. 

quare uigilemus sobrie 

gestantes mentes splendidas, 

aduenienti ut lesu 

digni curramus obuiam. 40 

noctisque mediae tempore 
Paulas quoque et Sileas, 
Christum uincti in carcere 
conlaudantes, soluti sunt. 

31 claras gestantes Mafk. 33 at st. Fs Hbd In Vs, quae st. Vr^ 

34 quae exstinctas omnes exc, Vr. 35 ianuas Hb IN, ianua Mfk. 

36 iam clausa Mfk, clausam i. r. ueniam Ma. 37 peruigilemus Eo 

F^ Hr. 38 stantes Maf. om. mentes Vr. mente splendidi Ma. 

splendide Mfk. 39 adueniente Eo^ Fyp Ma Vr, aduentui Hd. 

40 digne IN. occurramus Eo F^ Hr Mafk. 41 mediae noctis Mk, 

medium noctis Maf, media nocte Vr. 44 laudantes resoluti Ma 

(laudando res. Mfk). 



31. Cp. 120. 46. 

33. stultae is a trisyllable to be 
scanned istultae ; see Index. 

34. quia is to be regarded as a 
monosyllable, as at Fort. II. xv. 8. 

stinctas is a rare and poetical 
form, and has been ousted except in 
the most ancient MS by the better 
known exstinctas, which might and 
would come from the Vulgate of 
Mt. XXV. 8 quia lavipades nostrae 
exstingtitintur. It is used by Lucr. 
I. 667 igties in coetus stingui. In 
our hymn elision is unlikely in view 
of the several instances of hiatus in 

39' 42. 43. 53- 

36. reg^la] 'the palace, as at 
27. 5. 

37. uig^emus is to be scanned 



uig'lemus, as it was probably pro- 
nounced by the vulgar tongue. Cp. 
Ital. vegliare, Fr. veilUr. So mediae 
in 41 is a dissyllable, medjae. 

For uigilemus sobrie cp. 20. 7 and 
the introduction to this hymn. 

38. The epithet splendidas is of 
course chosen with reference to the 
lampades in the previous stanzas, 
but we may compare Ecclus. xxx. 2 7 
splendidum cor; Hor. Od. IV. vii. 21 
splendida Minos \fecerit arbitria. 

40. Cp. 104. 46. 

41 f. Acts xvi. 25 f. 

42. Sileas] a by- form of Silas. 
See the critical notes to Wordsworth- 
White Vulgate Acts xv. 22 etc. ; 
cp. Niceta d€ Vigiliis 7 (p. 63, ed. 
Burn) Paulus et Sileas in custodia 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN XLII 211 

nobis hie mundus career est ; 45 

te laudamus, Christe Deus ; 
solue uinela peceatorum 
in te sancte credentium. 

dignos nos fac, rex hagie, 

uenturi regni gloria, 50 

aeternis ut mereamur 

te laudibus concinere. 

gloria Patri ingenito, 

gloria unigenito, 

simul cum sancto Spiritu 55 

in sempiterna saecula. 

45 mundus hie IS. 48 Christe F^. 50 futuri IK. gloriae 

Hbdri IS. 51 aeternas Fs Hbd In Vs. 52 tibi laudes Fs Hbd 

In Vs. 

publica circa medium noctis orantes the more easily because it seems to 

hymnum audientibus uinctis dixisse have been retained in the ' Holy, 

memorantur ; ubi repente .. .omnium Holy, Holy,' even in Latin-speaking 

uincula sunt soluta. communities : see Passio S. Perpet. 

45. Cp. 40. 30 note. § 12. 

46. Cp. line 22 and the first 50. uenturi regni no doubt refers 
words of the Te Deiim. In later to the petition in the Lord's Prayer, 
hymns such indicatives were often adueniat regnum tuum, cp. 44^. 3, 
toned down into subjunctives. though we find inVerg. ^^«.viii.637 

47. Cp. Prov. V. 22 funihus uenturi... cuui. Blume xtaAsfuturi 
peceatorum suorum constringitur ; with the Bangor Antiphonary ; but 
Sacr. Greg. p. 123 (ed. Wilson) et this may have been a gloss in the 
quos delictoruiii catena constringit, first place, or the scribe may not 
miseratio tuae pietatis absoluat. have seen the full meaning of uen- 

48. sancte] Probably sancte turi. 

here is an adverb, qualifying ere- gloriae is perhaps the original, a 

dentium, rather than a vocative. gen. being sometimes found with 

Cp. Niceta de Ps. Bono 13 Deum... dignus, cp. 1. 15 note. 
humiliter sancteque iaudauerint. 51. • that we may be permitted' 

49. hag^e] see 44. 17, 84. 21. etc.; see 4. 8 note. 
Perhaps the use of this word came 

Hymn 42 

The first thing that strikes us in this ancient hymn is 
the number of lines defective in metre. In view of them 
Bede's words, — (Keil Gramm. Lat. Vll. 259) quomodo et 
ad ins tar ianibici inetri piilcherrinic factus est hymnus ilk 

14—2 



212 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

praeclarus Rex aeterne Dojuine, — seem somewhat strange. 
But at any rate the first Hne, which seems to us defec- 
tive, stood as it does now long before Bede's time. 
Caesarius gives the first words as Rex aeterne domine. 

Caesarius and AureHan of Aries prescribe the hymn 
die dominica ad priinos nocturnos^ Caesarius adding the 
rubric alia node ad primuni nocturnnm dicendum est 
Mediae noctis tempus est. See Blume Cursus p. 37. 
Originally it was written to commemorate the whole 
redeeming work of Christ ; but from the Xth century 
onwards the first seven stanzas were taken by themselves 
to form an Easter hymn, for which purpose they are not 
especially suited. 

The hymn seems indeed to fall into two parts. In the 
first seven stanzas one or another case of qui constantly 
recurs : in the following stanzas tu {tibi, te) takes its 
place. Did these first seven stanzas originally constitute 
a separate hymn, which was added to in the early 
hymnal, but adopted by itself in the later one as an 
Easter hymn ? 

It will be observed that the first seven contain not one 
spondee in the fourth foot, the others two or three, in 37, 
49 and perhaps 53. Would Bede have thought nothing 
of this ? Also St. VIII joins on rather abruptly to st. VII, 
with its introductory nam. 

Aefg {a uersu 45) EKadgosi?/* Fhmrsu^ Gam Hdk Ibhmov Vs 

Rex aeterne Domine, 
rerum creator omnium, 

I sempiterne {p7-o aet.) Vs. 

I. Perhaps we should with Daniel diphthong in aet. into two syllables, 

read O rex, laying the blame on the and likewise in saecula {v. 3). 

rubricator of the archetype. Knot, 2. creator] Cp. the note on 1. 8 

we must presumably resolve the factor. 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN XLII 213 

qui es ante saecula 
semper cum Patre Filius ; 

qui mundi in primordio 5 

Adam plasmasti hominem, 
cui tuae imaginis 
uultum dedisti similem ; 

quem diabolus deceperat, 

hostis humani generis, 10 

cuius tu formani corporis 

adsumere dignatus es, 

ut hominem redimeres, 

quem ante iam plasmaueras, 

et nos Deo coniungeres 15 

per carnis contubemium. 

3 eras Ed Hd*k Ib^ Vs^ 7 cuius Hk. imagini Ead^ij Fhm Gm 

Ihv Vs, imagine E/a' (tu -ne Hk), imaginem Es. 9 satanas {.pro 

diab.) Hd-. 11 cui Iv. 13 redemeris EXo F^ Hk. 15 ut EN. 

3. es] Perhaps we should with writers, zahultts. See Ronsch p. 

later Mss read eras, or possibly 457, 41. 37 note. 
{nuiti\es, as in Hilary Hymn. l. i . deceperat] ' ruined,' ' destroyed,' 

Cassander's es et seems to be due the usual meaning of the word in 

to his own conjecture. late Latin ; cp. Juvenc. Ii. 598 con- 

ante saecula] 1. 8. ciliis trucibus comlamant decipien- 

5. in primordio] 'in the begin- </«/«; C. I. Z. v. ^7,-ji pairiimom- 
ning,' cp. 73. 3. The word is very parabili dicepto a Daciscis in bello; 
rare in the singular. Lucretius and C. /. L. ix. 5012 hie est Simplicius, 
others use it in the plural, but not mxm future mersus acerbo...prae- 
so freely as exordia. clams sfttdiis, primis deceptus in 

6. plasmasti] ' didst fashion ' ; annis. See Lofstedt Spdtl. Studien 
derived from -KKwaanv through p. 72. Cp. Ambr. Hex. v. 62 eo 
xXao-jiia, found in the Vulgate at quod primus amor fefellerit earn 
Job X. 8 manus tuae plasmauerunt dilecti morte deceptam ; Aug. Conf. 
me etc. ; Ambr. de Farad. 5 quem x. 46 scis Esau lenticulae concupis- 
plasmauerat ; Prud. Apoth. 864 centia deceptum. 

plasmasse .. .corporis effigiem ; Fort. Between 10 and 11 two MSS, Ed 

V. vi. 3 plasmnta est Eua. See 23. and Hk, insert the two couplets 

10 note ; Ronsch 253. following,— /Vr/V/««« ligni uetiti \ 

7 f. Gen. i. 27. <:«/ is a dissyllable mortis propinans poculum. \ quique 

as at 4. 25 note. clausus in tenebris \ gemebat in sup- 

iTti ^TiiH is the gen. after similem. pliciis. 

9. Gen. iii. if. diabolus is a 11. Cp. 36. 32. 

trisyllable: this pronunciation ac- 16. contubemium] an instance of 

counts for the form of the word a word ennobled by its religious use. 

found in Commodian and other To a Roman ear it generally meant 



214 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



quern editum ex uirgine 
pauescit omnis anima, 
per quem nos resurgere 
deuota mente credimus. 

qui nobis per baptismata 
donasti indulgentiam, 
qui tenebamur uinculis 
ligati conscientiae. 

qui crucem propter hominem 
suscipere dignatus es, 
dedisti tuum sanguinem 
nostrae salutis pretium. 



20 



25 



19 et nos Ibv, omnes Vs. 
24 conscientia EXs Ga Hk lo. 

either companionship in a military 
tent or the so-called marriage of 
slaves. But cp. Wisd. viii. 3 \sa- 
pientid\ contubernium habens Dei : 
so this line means 'by Thy dwelling 
among men.' Perhaps the writer is 
thinking of Joh. i. 14 koX 6 \670j... 
iffKTjvwaev iv rj/uv. 

18. pauescit 0. a.] Cp. Phil. ii. 
10 f. 

19. Probably ^uem is to be 
scanned as a dissyllable. See an in- 
teresting tract by A. M. Harmon, 
' The Clausula in Ammianus Mar- 
cellinus,' in which he shews that u 
may count as a syllable in the 
combination qu- ; that, out of 71 
clausulae of Ammian in which a 
word containing qu- appears, the u 
counts as a syllable in 35 of these, 
while in 36 it does not ; and that 
the relative pronoun is oftener a 
dissyllable than a monosyllable. 
Thus we have i. vii. 5 relaturi quae 
audirent ; I. xcvi. 3 iste quem ui- 
demus. In accordance with these 
facts we find reliquiis and aqiid ; 
cp. Lachmann's Lucretius, p. 305, 
Munro on Lucr. I. 560, Ritschl on 
Plaut.'TV/w. 14, Lindsay Lat. Lan- 
guage p. 87. See also the note on 
r;/i'4. '25. 



21 baptismum EKasj; Gam Hd'k. 

nos resurgere] ' that we shall rise 
again,' We should according to rule 
have the future, but resurrecturos 
would be a cumbersome word and 
could not be fitted into the verse. 
Both in ante- and post-classical Latin 
thepresent inf. is freely used for future 
events after credo and like verbs ; 
cp. 89. 18, Fort. Vit. Mart, i, 343 
credit stare. The present tense gives 
a more general sense : ' we believe 
in our rising again.' 

20. deu. mente] ' devoutly ' ; 
the mente is on its way to become 
the adverbial -nieiit, -mente, of the 
Romance languages. 

21. If we read baptismum, qui 
again will be dissyllabic ; but bap- 
tismata of the later Mss is probably 
right. The plural is peculiar, hut 
is used by Fort. Vit. Mart. 11. 187 
ac sua perdiderint baptismata cri- 
mine vtersi ; Ambr. in Luc. I. 35 
baptismata populis frequentata. It 
seems to mean baptism as applied 
to each penitent in succession ; cp. 
Heb. vi. 2 baptismatum doctrinae. 

22. indulgentiam] 'pardon,' as 
at 86. II, 94. 24. 

24. conscientiae] 'a bad con- 
science,' 'consciousness of guilt,' as 
at 98. 5. 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN XLII 215 



nam uelum templi scissum est 
et omnis terra tremuit, 
tu multos dormientium 
resuscitasti, Domine. 
tu hostis antiqui uires 
per crucem mortis conterens, 
qua nos signati frontibus 
uexillum fidei ferimus. 



30 



35 



tu ilium a nobis semper 

repellere dignaueris, 

ne umquam possit laedere 

redemptos tuo sanguine. 40 

qui propter nos ad inferos 

descendere dignatus es, 

29 nam et Hk. 31 tunc multis Eo F^. 34 crucis morte Hk. 

conteris Eo F^ (-es Vs). 35 signasti Hk. 37 semper a n. Vs. 

38 dignaberis Ed. 

antiquus of Rev. xii. 9, xx. i. Often 
in Bade. 

34. crucem mortlB] ' the cross of 
death,' i.e. on which Thou didst die. 

conterens] in fulfilment of Gen. 
iii. 15 il>sa conteret caput tuum; 
cp. Rom. xvi. ao Dctis . . .conterat 
Satanam. 

35. Cp. 26. 7 note. 
l(). uexUlom] ' the ensign,' 6. 

15 note, 26. ii, 34. i note, Victor 
Vitensis Hist. Persec. I. 43 cuius 
cum diu cu satpitis tibias torquendo 
iinnientihus constringerent (\Ji\i)rdis 
et front em, in qua Christ us uexillum 
suae fixerat crucis. 

38. dignaueris] 'do Thou deign,' 
perf. subjunctive. The active form 
digno is rare, but used by some early 
and late writers. As however the 
deponent digiior is used in lines n, 
26 and 42 of this hymn, perhaps we 
should here read dignaberis. The 
future indicative may have seemed 
strange to copyists, but would be 
like such phrases as Ps. xi. (xii.) 8 
tu Domine seruaiis nos. 

40. Cp. Rev. V. 9, Te Denm 10. 



26. suscipere] Cp.32. 18, Lact. 
Diu. Inst. w. xix. 11 nisi...illam 
crucem portandam patiendamqiie sus- 
ceperit. The word is perhaps chosen 
with reference to Christ's own words 
Mt. xvi. 24 toll at crucem. 

28. pretdum] see 33. 28 note, 
I Cor. vi. 20, vii. 23. At this point 
the hymn ends in all but the early 
MSS. 

29. Mt. xxvii. 51, 1. 43. 
nam] ' moreover,' ' then,' used as 

a mere particle of transition to an- 
other point, as at Fort. ix. x. 13. 
We find it with almost the adversa- 
tive force of ' but,' ' whereas,' at 
Commodian Apol. 256 sicut erat 
scriptum, quod aues sua tempora 
norunt, \ nam populus iste non me 
intellexit adesse ; Fort. iv. xxvi. 30 
forma peril hominum, nam bene- 
facta manent; vii. vii. 14. 

31. For the repeated tu in this 
and the following lines cp. note on 

1- 3- 

32. resuscitasti] Cp. 1. 24, 86. 
13, 104. 8. 

33. hostis antiqui] the serpens 



2i6 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

ut mortis debitoribus 
uitae donares munera. 

tibi noctumo tempore 45 

hymnum deflentes canimus, 
ignosce nobis, Domine, 
ignosce confitentibus. 

quia tu testis et iudex es, 

quem nemo potest fallere, 50 

secreta conscientiae 

nostrae uidens uestigia. 

tu qui nostrorum pectorum 

solus inuestigator es, 

tu uulnerum latentium 55 

bonus adsistis medicus. 

tu es qui certo tempore 
daturus finem saeculi, 
... tu pro cunctorum meritis 

iustus remunerator es. 60 

43 morti Vs, mortem F^ Hk. 44 donaris ENo Hk. 45 matutino 
(pro noct. ) Aefg EK A's. 49 q. ipse es (est Af) t. et i. Af Vs, q. tu ipse 
t. et i. es Fs [om. es Eo), q. tu ipse t. es et i. es Hk. 52 nostra EK F^ 

(-am Vs). 53 addidi qui. peccatorum Hk. 56 assiste Eo^, 

assistens Eo^. 58 saeculo F^t. 59 addidi pro. et tu V's. 

43. mortis debitor is a variation tu ? qui would easily drop out after 
of the usual reus mortis oi Mt. xxvi. tu. inuestigator (Prov. xi. 27) goes 
66, 105. 18, 30 etc. well with either pectorum or pecca- 

44. munera] ' the gift,' plural. torum. The spondee in the fourth 

45. At this point some of the foot would not stand alone in this 
Ambrosian MSS begin a new hymn. part of the hymn. 

46. deflentes] Cp. 31. 38 note. 55. uulnerum] Cp. 66, 19. 16 
49. quia] a monosyllable, as at note. 

41. 34. 56. adsistis, as at 66. 4, has some 

testis] Rev. i. 5, iii. 14; but here of its later sense of ' assisting.' The 

it seems 10 mean that Christ is an title of the bonus medicus probably 

eyewitness of all that men do. comes from Mark ii. 1 7 and parallels, 

52. uestigia] 'the lowest depths'; influenced by John x. 11. 

as Ambr. in Ps. xxxix. i animi 59. Perhaps we should read tu 

nostri interiora uestigia. pro cunctorum meritis ; cp. 85. i x f. 

53. Should we read peccatorum reddetts uicem pro abditis \ iustisque 
with later MSS, or tu qui nos- regnum pro bonis; 86. 15 non pro 
trorum pectorum, or possibly tu, reatu ptiniat. For the sense cp. 



EA RLIER H YMNAL. H YMN XLIII 2 1 7 

te ergo, sancte, quaesumus, 

ut nostra cures uulnera, 

. qui es cum Patre Filius 

semper cum sancto Spiritu. 

I Cor. V. 10, Heb. xi, 6, Rev. more than doubtful if the word 

ii. 23. ever bears this meaning in classical 

mentis] 'deserts,' whether good writers, except Liv. xxi. 8 dum 

or bad. _ uulnus duels curaretur, and even 

61. sancte] Cp. 32. 18 note. this may mean 'while. ..was being 

62. cures] 'cure,' 'heal.' It is treated.' Cp. <-«ra in 37. 19. 

Hymn 43 
The sense of 43, which is handed down in just three 
IXth century MSS, is difficult and the grammar abnormal. 
This difficulty seems to have arisen from the misplace- 
ment of the lines, for on a re-arrangement it disappears, 
and the hymn runs smoothly. 

[The lines as given in Blume Qirsus 113 read thus: 

Tempus noctis surgentibus, 

laudes Deo dicentibus 

Christo lesiique Domino 

in trinitatis gloria, 

choro sanctorum psallimus, 

ceruices nostras flectimus 

uel genua prosterninms 

peccata confitentibus. 

oremus Deo iugiter, 

uincamtis in bono malum, 

cum. fructu paenitentiae 

uotum perenni reddere. 

Christum rogemus et patrem 

sanctum patrisque spiritum, 

ut det nobis auxilium, 

uincamus hostem iuuidum. 
Perhaps the transposition is less effective in removing 
difficulties than Mr Walpole thought.] 



2l8 



EARLY LA TIN H YMNS 



The hymn In matutinis surgitmis is a Mozarabic re- 
casting of 43. Daniel I. 3 takes it from Thomasius, who 
in turn exactly copies the inferior text of the breviary 
of Ortiz of 1502. Blume prints it more correctly from 
the Xth century MS, Madrid 1005 hh 60, Analecta 
XXVII. 71. 

Eo Fai/' 
Tempus noctis surgentibus, 
laudes Deo dicentibus, 
Christo lesuque Domino 
peccata confitentibus, 

in Trinitatis gloria 5 

chorus sanctorum psallimus, 
ceruices nostras flectimus 
uel genua prosternimus. 



oremus Deo iugiter, 
ut det nobis auxilium, 
uincamus hostem inuidum, 
uincamus in bono malum. 



10 



2 laudis Fa. 
bonis Fa. 



3 Christi Fa. 



6 choro Fa^. 



9 deum Eo. 



T . ' Rising at night-time.' tempus 
is hardly to be distinguished from 
tempore, which would stand here 
in a classical writer; cp. 55. lo 
quod, ' at which,' 60. 4 ttenturam 
HOC tern. 

surgentibus, dicentibus (in 2), 
confitentibus (in 4) are abl.'s abso- 
lute, though they refer to the subject 
of the finite verbs psallimus etc. ; 
cp. 33. 17 note. The confitentibus 
might have the same construction 
at the end of stanza n, though to 
us it seems more harsh to return to 
the odd construction after once get- 
ting clear of it. 

3. -que is misplaced, as at 34. 24, 
and comes in most awkwardly, if 
we keep the MS order of the lines. 
In the proposed rearrangement the 



meaning is clear: 'and confessing 
our sins to Christ Jesus the Lord.' 
In either place Christus-lesns is 
treated as a single name. 

5. 'in our praise of the Trinity' ; 
gloria as at 40. 34 and often. There 
is not much difference in Latin of 
this kind between in gloria and in 
gloriam. 

6. sanctorum] i.e. of believers ; 
cp. 15. i\ note. 

8. uel] ' and,' as at 37. 6. 

genua prosternimus is an unusual 
phrase for kneeling, derived from the 
frequent use in the Vulgate of pro- 
sterno to express the eastern prostra- 
tion of the whole body, cp. Dan. 
iii. 6, 10 etc. 

11. hostem inuidum] 3. 14, 5. 27. 

12. 'That we may overcome evil 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN XLIV 219 

Christum rogemus et Patrem 

sanctum Patrisque Spiritum, 

cum fructu paenitentiae 15 

uotum perenni reddere. 



13 



Christo Fa. 



with good,' Rom. xii. 21, cp. 80. ^o. 
The use of in to express the instru- 
ment is biblical. 

13 comes from 6. 30, cp. 65. 33. 
Notice the substitution oi sanctuniior 
Ambrose's Chrhti. The Mozarabic 
version referred to in the introduc- 
tion exactly reproduces 5. 30, and in 
the following line substitutes repellat 
for nincamns : perhaps to avoid the 
sudden change of subject. 



16 uota Fa, uoto F^. 

16. reddere may be translated 
■•pay.' In the MS order the inf. 
depends upon uincamus, as at Rev. 
V. 5 tiicit leo...aperire libriim. But 
here this construction would be ex- 
tremely harsh, owing to the inter- 
vening words. If reddere uotum is 
transferred to the end, it would 
seem to mean ut reddanius: uotum 
will then mean • our desire.' 



Hymn 44 

This poetical hymn is not mentioned by Caesarius 
or Aurelian, but early became the office hymn for 
Mattins on Sunday. Probably the first four stanzas are 
addressed to God the Father, the direct invocation of 
Christ not coming until stanza V ; see the note on 3. 
But sator in verse 2 may be vocative, in which case the 
address to Christ begins at that point. 

Eo Fa^ [ad 8) Hr [in parte) 

Deus, qui caeli lumen es 
satorque lucis, qui polum 
paterno fultiim bracchio 

I certe (pro caeli) Fa. est Fa. 2 populum Fa. 3 fultus F^^, 

fluctus Fa. 

I note) and other similar words, 
sator lost its special meaning : cp. 
68. I sator... temporum', Arnob. adu. 
Nat. I. 34 sator saeculorum ac tem- 
porum ; ib. II. 25. 

3. fultum] 'firmly set.' The 
firmament was supposed to be solid 
and propped upon mountains at 
either end ; sec the diagram in 
Hastings Diet, of Bible l. 503. 



1. caeli lumen] Rev. xxi. 23, 
cp. xxii. 5. 

2. sator] 'creator,' or 'father,' 
lit. 'sower.' Perhaps the word is 
chosen, because light and fire were 
thought to spring from seeds ; cp. 
27. 7 note, Prud. Cath. ill. i o crn- 
cifer bone Itidsator, Fort. V. ii. 3 ut 
tenebras anirnae lux sementiiia fu- 
garet. However, like inuentor (27. 



220 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



praeclara pandis dextera ; 

Aurora Stellas iam tegit 
rubrum sustoUens gurgitem, 
umectis namque flatibus 
terram baptizans roribus. 

currus iam poscit Phosphorus 
radiis rotisque flammeis, 
quod caeli scandens uerticem 
profectus moram nesciens. 



5 auroram Fa. teget Fa. 8 terra Fa. 

12 profectis moris Fa. 

' The arm of the Lord ' is a meta- 
phor frequently found in the O.T., 
as at Exod. vi. 6. If sator is taken 
as nom., paterno will be ' Thy fatherly 
arm ' ; if as voc, ' Thy Father's.' 

4. pandis] Cp. Ps. ciii. (civ.) 2 
' Thou...spreadest out the heavens 
like a curtain.' Job ix. 8, Is. xl. 22, 
xlii. 5, xliv. 24, li. 13, Jer. x. 12. 
Here however pandis seems to de- 
note the opening of the curtain to 
give light ; cp. 46. 4, 1. 43. 

5 f. ' Dawn now shrouds the 
stars, uplifting her ruddy flood, for 
with damp blasts she bedews the 
earth.' 

Aurora is personified, as generally 
in the Latin poets. And just as the 
darkness is regarded as a material 
substance (21. 5), so also the light 
(46. 7). Arabr. Hex. IV. 11 implies 
the objective existence of a man's 
shadow uidemus umbram uel homi- 
nis uel uirgulti alicuius a lumine 
separari. . .estenim, ut per Mores pro- 
bauerunt, . . . umbra terrae. The flood 
of light being brought up from ocean 
(Verg. Aen. iv. 129, xil. 114 alto 
se gurgite tollunt \ solis equi) is of a 
watery nature. 

7. namque introduces the clause 
that explains this use of gurgitem 
'a flood of light': elsewhere gur- 
ges means 'a water-flood,' as at 
31. 41, 77. 3. namque, used as 
it is here, with a participle instead 



1 1 celis cadens Fa. 



of a finite verb, seems to be con- 
sidered as synonymous with the 
kindred nempe, in which the con- 
junctive force is often lost, and 
treated a.s = scilicet, quippe; cp. 
Sedul. Carm. i. 78 totum namque 
lauans uno baptismate mundum. 
Otherwise the grammar might be 
helped by putting only a comma at 
roribus and attaching baptizans to 
Phosphorus. But the free use of the 
pres. part, instead of the pres. indie, 
is remarkable in our hymn ; so 12 
nescietts, 16 suscitans. 

9. ' Now Phosphorus calls for 
his chariot with flaming spokes and 
wheels, because in his ascent to the 
height of heaven (i.e. to his zenith) 
his progress knows no delay.' 

Phosphorus (#w(r</>6poj, the light- 
bringer), the Latin Ltuijer, usually 
denotes Venus the morning-star, 
but here seems to be used of the 
sun. Cp. 2 Pet. i. 19. 

10 radiis] ' spokes,' as at Verg. 
Georg. II. 444 radios triuere rotis; 
but the sun's spokes are his rays. 

12. profectus, if a substantive, is 
hora projicio, and is here either nomi- 
native, or genitive after moram, ' his 
progress is unacquainted with delay,' 
or 'is unacquainted with any delay 
of his progress.' 

nesciens] For this use of the word 
cp. 3. 20, 28. Pres. part, for pres. 
indie, this time combined with 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN XLIVb 221 

iam noctis umbra linquitur, 

polum caligo deserit, 

typusque Christi Lucifer 15 

diem sopitum suscitans. 

dies dierum hagius es 

lucisque lumen ipse es, 

unum potens per omnia, 

potens in unum Trinitas. 20 

te nunc, Saluator, qliaesumus 
tibique genu flectimus : 
Patrem cum sancto Spiritu 
totis rogamus uiribus. 

13 linquetur Fa. 14 populum Fa. 21 tunc (pro te) Fa. 

qttod. Not unlike is Fort. II. ix. 64 20. It is difficult to see what the 

horrea quando quideni cottstruitura writer meant by these lines. Unlike 

Dei. Atnbr. , he seems to mean Christ by 

13. linquitiu:] 'we leave the unum potens per omnia, but then 

shade of night ' ; or perhaps ' it influenced by the recollection of 

fails,' 'fades away.' Ovid Her. 11. Ambr.'s hymn, proceeds to identify 

130 uses linquor of ' fainting.' this 'one Almighty' with the Trinity. 

15. 'And Lucifer, the type of The effect is somewhat Sabellian. 
Christ, awakens the day from its Line ao, in relation to 19, seems to 
slumber.' Like Phosphorus in 9, mean that, as the Divine power ex- 
Lucifer is the sun ; see 2. 9 note, tends over all things, so this un- 
and contrast 46. 5 f. divided power resides in a Trinity. 

17. dies dienun] 3. 4. Probably in unum is to be taken in 
hagius] ' the holy one ' ; see note its adverbial sense, as in Ps. xlviii. 

on 32. 18 sancte. Or possibly 'O 3, cxxxii. i, Joh. xi. 51, xvii. 33, 

holy one' (nom. for voc), 'Thou Acts ix. 13 and elsewhere, 
art the day of our days.' We have 21. quaesamusandin 24r<!^amwj 

had hagius ^t 41. 49. {as at 69. 3, 98. 11) are without the 

18. ' Thou Thyself art the light usual complement expressing that 
of (all earthly) light ' ; cp. 3. 3. which is prayed for. 

19 is identical with 8. 31. 24. Xa\,'ia\ = omnibus , as at 13. 27. 

Hymn 44B 

The following hymn, consisting of a paraphrase of the 
Lord's Prayer, is regarded by Blume, against Daniel and 
Sievers, as an integral part of 44. But the last stanza of 
that hymn is a doxology, and forms as fitting a conclu- 
sion to it, as the next stanza Pater, qui caelos contines. 



222 EA RLY LA TIN H YMNS 

etc., makes a fitting beginning of a new hymn, — a 
beginning of the same character as those of other hymns 
of this series, with Pater of course substituted for the 
usual Deiis ; see the first Hnes of 44, 57, 59 respectively. 

The four stanzas of 44b are, to be sure, written in the 
MSS as if they belonged to the hymn Deus qui caeli 
lumen es. But this has happened in other cases as well. 
Thus the Bern MS 455 makes one continuous hymn of 
100 Meridie orandum ist, 99 Dei fide qua uiuinius, and 
54 Perfectutn trinum numerum ; and two Mozarabic MSS 
write 41 Mediae noctis ternpus est as if it were a continua- 
tion of the hymn lesu defensor omnium. The same has • 
happened also in other poems. Propert. III. iv and v are 
written as one piece in the MSS ; Hor. Epist. I. xvii and 
xviii in many. 

To support his argument Blume emphasizes the use 
of the Te Deum made in 49 Christe caeli Domine. But 
the two cases are not parallel. In the present case the 
paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer contained in 44b is 
simply tacked on to 44, whereas parts of the Te Deum, 
are interwoven into the very texture of 49 throughout. 

If further argument for separating the two poems were 
required, it might be found in the respective styles. 
While 44 is full of imagery, delights in unusual words, 
and abounds in grammatical conundrums, 44b is abso- 
lutely simple and free from rhetorical ornament. 

Eo Fa 

Pater, qui caelos contines, 

cantemus nunc nomen tuum ; 

adueniat regnum tuum, 

fiatque uoluntas tua. 

I contenis Eo Fa. 4 om. que Fa. 

I. contines] 39. 15, 48. 5, cp. 18. 2. cantemns] a restricted inter- 

I note. pretation oi sanctificetur. 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN XLV 223 

haec, inquam, uoluntas tua 5 

nobis agenda traditur : 

simus fideles spiritu, 

casto manentes corpore. 

panem nostrum cotidie 

de te edendum tribue ; 10 

remitte nobis debita, " 

ut nos nostris remittimus. 

temptatione subdola 

indiici nos ne siueris, 

sed puro corde supplices 15 

tu nos a nmlo libera. 



7 sumus fidili Fa. 
14 sineris Eo Fa. 

5. inquam] ' I say,' often used at 
the repetition of the same word or 
thought, cp. Ezek. iv. 6 diem pro 
anno, diem inquam pro anno ; 
Lucr. II. 256 unde haec animantibus 
exstat, I unde est haec inquam fatis 
auolsa uoluntas. 

6. traditur] The tradition of the 
Church teaches it us, that we may 
work it out. 

7. 8 are adapted from 3. 18, and 
8 recurs at 46. 22. 

manentes] ' ever abiding. ' nianeo 
was a favourite word in late Latin 
writers, often meaning little more 
than sum, especially in the pres. 
participle, which is wanting in sum 
(112. 26). The line tacitly con- 
trasts our earthly state with the 
heavenly. 

10. de te edendum] cp. 100. 3 
ut ittbeat nos edere \ de suo sancto 
corpore. This spiritualisation of the 



1 2 remittemus Fa. 



13 temptalio Fa. 



clause was already traditional when 
Tertullian wrote his de Oratione. 

11. debita] Cp. Mt. xviii. 27, 
Anibr. Tob. 15 graue uocabulum 
debitorum. debita peccata dicuntur, 
debitores quoque criminosi appellan- 
tur\ 86. \o laxare patis debitum. 

12. nostris] debitoribus ; or per- 
haps simply 'to men of our own 
kind.' 

1 3. * SuflTer us not to be led on 
by treacherous temptation.' ^low- 
ever, as induco is usually followed 
by a word or words expressing that 
into which one is led astray, and as 
up to this point the wording of the 
hymn has closely followed the 
original of Mt. vi. 9 f., perhaps the 
writer intended the abl. to be 
governed by the /'// in induct. The 
difference between ace. and abl. 
after in tended to disappear, like 
that between e/s and iv. 



Hymn 45 
This beautiful and evidently ancient hymn has had a 
remarkable history. It comes in no hymnal or breviary 
earlier than the XVth century, nor in any MS of what- 
ever kind before the Xlth century, those wiiich contain it 



224 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

being generally collections of poems and hymns. Yet of 
its antiquity there can be little doubt ; and to judge by 
its contents and style it may have been written by the 
author of 44, 46, 47, 50, — if indeed these were all written 
by one man. Like them it is a happy copy of the 
Ambrosian hymns, in style though not in scansion, and 
is especially based upon 2 Splendor paternae gloriae. 
Blume is of opinion that 48 and 49 were also the work 
of the same writer. But the character of these hymns 
seems to be wholly different in respect of their subject- 
matter, style and prosody. 

Most of the codices that contain 45 give Hilary of 
Poitiers as the author ; but it is strikingly unlike those 
hymns of his which Gamurrini discovered and published 
(see the introduction to i, p. 2), and it is most unlikely 
that he wrote it. 

[No textual notes are here given. The hymn is not 
contained in any of the MSS which Walpole collated. 
The reader is referred to Blume Cursus p. 115.] 

Lucis largitor splendide, 
cuius serene lumine 
post lapsa noctis tempera 
dies refusus panditur, 

tu uerus mundi lucifer, 5 

nen is qui parui sideris 

I. largitor] 'generous giver,' 98. with the genitive. The variant op- 

I, 107. 18. time would come from 66. i, 73. i. 

splendide seems to be on the 2. sereno] ' bright,' see 10. % 

whole better than splendidae. It note. 

matches with the similar verse of 5 f . 'Thou the world's true morn- 

46, aeterne lucis conditor, and is ing star, — not he who, the herald 

probably an allusion to 3. i splendor of the light to come, shines with a 

paternae gloriae, though this is small star's tiny gleam, but brighter 

brought out more at line 14. On than all the sun. Thyself art all 

the other hand splendidae would light and day, — lightening the in- 

give a good sense and would be ward fibres of our hearts.' The first 

like 47. i, where the epithet goes three stanzas are taken up with the 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN XLV 225 

uenturae lucis nuntius 
angusto fulget lumine, 

sed toto sole clarior 

lux ipse totus et dies, 10 

interna nostri pectoris 

inluminans praecordia : 

adesto, rerum conditor, 

paternae lucis gloria, 

cuius amota gratia 15 

nostra patescunt corpora ; 

tuo quae plena Spiritu 

secum Deum gestantia 

nil rapientis perfidi 

diris pateant fraudibus, 20 



invocation, the prayer itself does 
not come until line 13. In some of 
Horace's Odes e.g. iv. iv the apo- 
dosis is deferred to a very late place. 
Incifer] here the star, and not 
the sun as at 44. 15. 

6. The writer perhaps has in 
mind Prud. Cath.v. 129 f. nonsicut 
tenebras de face fiilgida \ surgens 
oceano Lucifer inbuit, \ sed terris 
Domini de cruce Iristibus \ maior 
sole nouum restiluetis diem. 

7. Cp. 71. 10. 

10. identical with 46. 2, cp 65. 2. 

12. praecordia] 'the heart," 
strictly the membrane that separates 
the larger from the smaller entrails, 
the midriff or diaphragm ; cp. 88. 
15. It is here and there (as at Is. 
xxvi. 9, Nicet. de Psalmod. 5) used 
for the heart, but rarely. 

13 is an echo of 2. i, as line r4 
is of 3. I. 

16. patescunt] ' lie open ' to the 
onset of the devil, a thought carried 
on in the next stanza ; cp 68. 8 
telis patescant inuidi. The variant 
pauescunt does not go so well with 
the subject corpora. 

17. ' May these full of Thy Spirit, 
bearing God with them, in no way 



lie open to the dread wiles of the 
ravening traitor.' 

quae refers to corpora in 16. The 
usual reading is tuoque, but this 
coupling of the indicative patescunt 
with the subjunctive pateant would 
be very harsh, quat for -que is 
merely another way of reading the 
Mss, many of which (e.g. V^at. reg. 
11) use q: for either word. A 
modern poet would avoid pateant 
so close to patescunt ; but not so 
these hymns, cp. e.g. lumitu in 1 
and 8. 

18. Our bodies bear God with 
them so far as they are filled with 
the Spirit ; cp. 28 below and i Cor. 
vi. 19 f. membra uestra templum 
sunt Spiritus sancti. . .portate Deum 
in corpore uestra ; Ambr. in Luc. 
V. 24 hunc tolle in animum tuum, 
consecra in templo tuo, tolU in cor- 
pore tuo, sicut scripium est ; iollite 
deum in corpore uestro ; ib. IX. 1 1 
disce...gestare Christum. 

19. nil] ' in no way,' as at 88. 14. 
rapientis] ' ravening ' ; the devil 

being compared to a lion greedy for 
prey; cp. Ps. xxi. (xxii.) 14 siait 
leo rapiens et rugiens. 

perfldl being regarded as a subst. 

15 



226 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

ut inter actus saeculi, 
uitae quos usus exigit, 
omni carentes crimine 
tuis uiuamus l^bus. 

probrosas mentis castitas 25 

carnis uincat libidines, 
sanctumque puri corporis 
delubrum seruet Spiritus. 

haec spes precantis animae, 

haec sunt uotiua munera, 30 

ut matutina nobis sit 

lu^c in noctis custodiam. 

is qualified by rapUns. It is used as shewing wherein the tUlubrum con- 

an adj., of the devil 84. 24. sists, and Spiritus is the gen. of the 

1 1 . actns saeculi] ' our worldly possessor, both connected with de- 

actions,' cp. 13. 2 diem saeculi. lubrum ; which generally, — always 

22. usus ezigit] Cp. Ambr. in the Vidgate, — <lenotes the shrine 
Hex. V. 47 hie usus est uitae ; Fort. of a false god ; but cp. Juvenc. II. 
X. i. ^1 non nobis necesse sit ad escam 1 74 cogtumere uiri proprio de corpore 
amplius quant cotidianus usus exigit Christum \ delubrum dixisse Dei ', 
ut quaeramus re uera ; Prud. Psych. Fort. i. vi. 5 condidit ergo aruis 
609 nil uelle super, quam postulet delubra Leontius alma. 

usus I debitus ; Hor. Epist. i. xii. 4 29 f. ' This is the hope of the 

has the phrase rerum usus. ■ supplicating soul, these are the 

23. crimine] 1. 35 note. prayers which we present, that the 
25. probrosas] 10. 4. morning light may endure for us 
27. * and may it {castitas in 25) until the night watch.' 

keep holy the temple of the Spirit 32. noctis costodiam] Qp. Ps. 

consisting of a pure body.' i Cor. iii. cxxix. (cxxx.) 6 a custodia matutina 

16 templum Dei estis, et Spiritus Dei usqtie ad noctem speret Israel in 

habitat in uMs... templum enim Dei Domino. In this sense of a watch of 

sanctum est, cp. i Cor. vi. 19, 62. 5. the night r^arded as a point of time 

corporis is the gen. of definition uigilia is much the commoner word. 



Hymn 46 

The use of 46 in the old series wjis for Mattins on 
Tuesday, feria tertia ad matutitias laudes. In the 
Mozarabic breviary it was appointed for Lauds on the 
Saturday infra hebdomadatn primam qtiadragesintae ; 
Analecta XX VII. 77. 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN XLVI 227 



Eo Fai^ Hr Mx Vr 

Aeterne lucis conditor, 
lux ipse totus et dies, 
noctem nee uUam sentiens 
natura lucis perpeti : 

iam cedit pallens proximo 
diei nox aduentui, 
obtendens lumen siderum 
adest et clarus lucifer. 

iam stratis laeti surgimus 
grates canentes et tuas, 
quod caecam noctem uicerit 
reuectans rursus sol diem. 



10 



( 2 lucis (^pro totus) Mx. 4 naturalis Fa. 

\ Mx Vr. 5 cedet Eo, cedat Mx. 

8 adstet Fa. 9 strati Fa, stratum Mx. 

12 reuertat Mx. 



perpete Eo, perpetim 

7 obtundens Eo Fa^^. 

10 gratis Fa^. 



1 . aeterne is better than aeternae, 
which Daniel l. 39 reads. For not 
only is the line based on 2. i aeterne 
rerum conditor, but aeternae lucis 
would give a wrong sense : the 
phrase, could referVonly to God the 
Father, as at Wisd. vii. 26 candor 
est enim lucis aeternae, cp. 48. i, or 
to Christ, as at Ambr. in Luc. II. 
1 2 Pater. . .genitor lucis aeternae, 84. 
2, neither of which would go well 
with conditor. 

2. Cp. 46. 10. 

3. Cp. I John i. 5 ; there is no 
darkness in God's everlasting nature 
of light. 

5. pallens] ' colourless,' cp. 22. 2 
pallens. . .caecitas. 

7 f. ' The bright morning star 
also is with us shrouding the light 
of the stars,' with the solid light of 
dawn, cp. 44. 5 note, Amb. Hex. 
IV. 9 fulgorem illam lunar em stel- 
larumque omnium sol exorlus abs- 
condit. 



obtendens] 'shrouding' by a 
veil, cp. Sil. Punic, x. 228 obtendit 
pulttere lucem. See also 44. 5. The 
variant obtundens would mean 
' striking against ' and then ' dul- 
ling,' cp. Lucr. IV. 619 uox obtun- 
ditur ; Arnob. adu. Nationes II. 58 
obtunsi luminis. Lines 7 and 8 
might have changed places, when 
the connexion would have been 
easier; but the jwet wishes to put 
the emphatic Lucifer at the end of 
the stanza, et is displaced in the 
same way two lines below ; cp. 
41. 23. 

10. The line is an echo of 
6. 9f. 

11. uicerit should regularly be 
uicit : quod when it gives the actual 
reason (here the grounds on which 
we give thanks) takes the indicative. 

12. reuectans] intensive in form, 
not in sense ; characteristic of late 
Latin, reuectare is not used by any 
classical writer. 



228 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



te nunc, ne carnis gaudia 

blandis subrepant aestibus, 

dolis ne cedat saeculi 15 

mens nostra, sancte, quaesumus: 

ira ne rixas prouocet, 

gula ne uentrem incitet, 

opum peruertat ne famis, 

turpis ne luxus occupet. 20 

sed firma mente sobrii 
casto manentes corpore 
totum fideli spiritu, 
Christe, ducamus hunc diem. 

13 nee Eo. 14 subrepat Vr. 15 nee Fa. 17 iram 

Eo F^. riec Fa. rixa Eo. 18 gulam Eo F^ Vr. nee uenter Eo Fa^. 

19 opem Fa^. nee Eo Fa. 20 nee Eo Fa. lux Fa. 21 firmamento 
Mx Vr. 22 manente Fa. 23 toto Fa Mx Vr. fidele Eo. 

24 Christo Eo Fa^. dicamus Fa. 



14. blandis] 'alluring,' cp. 67. 
1 2. It has a better meaning at 47. 

II, in. 21. 

subrepant] of evil stealing on us 
unawares, as at 67. 13. 

aestibus] originally ' burning 
heat,' ' sultriness,' as at 11. 8, 36. 
1 3 ; here of the undue heat of pas- 
sion as at 67. 12, 101. 11 and fre- 
quently in classical authors. So are 
used also uapor 6. 24, calor 17. 6, 
ardor 58. 13. 

1 6. sancte] i.e. Christ, 32. 18 
note. 

17 from Prov. xv. 18 tiir iracun- 
dtis protioiot rixas. 

18. grula] properly 'the gullet,' 
hence 'gluttony'; cp. Juv. i. 140 
quanta est gula, quae sibi totos \ ponit 
apros! Ambr. in Luc. iv. 17 tria 
praecipue docemur tela diaboli, qui- 
bus ad comiulnerandam mentem 
hominis consuetiit artnari, gulae 
unum, aliud iactantiae, ambitionis 
tertium. 

19. opum... famis] 'hunger for 



riches,' cp. Verg. Aen. in. 57 quid 
non morlalia pectora cogis \ auri 
sacra fames; Hor. Od. in. xvi. 17 
crescentem sequittir cura pecuniam \ 
maiorumque fames \ Prud. Hamart. 
256 auri ftamque fames parto fit 
maior ab auro ; Sedul. Op. II. 
p. 228 ed. Huemer sunt istis uitiis 
et plura similia, quibus arnica sem- 
per fames auri conmilitat; 50. 33. 
For the form famis see 60. 34. 

20. occupet] 50. 25 ; Job iii. 5 
occupet eum caligo. 

21 f. based upon 3. 18 f. See note 
on 42. 20. 

sobrii] 3. 23, 5. 16, 20. 7, 10. 

22. manentes] repeated from 
44 b. 8. 

24. The reading Christe is pre- 
ferable to Christo, which might well 
come from the parallel passage 50. 
38 f., where Christo is governed 
by plcuentes. The vocative in the 
closing stanza is not unlike the use 
of Redemptor at 15. 29, of Christe 
in 20. 13 etc. 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN XLVII 229 

Hymn 47 

This hymn was appointed by Caesarius of Aries ad 
primam from October to Easter. See Blume Cursus 
p. 38 deinde dicenda est prima cum psalmis sex,et hymniis 
Fulgentis aucior aetheriSy lectiones duae, una de ueteri, 
alia de nouo testamento, et capitellum. hoc modo dominica 
uel sabbato et maioribus festiuitatibus fieri debet. In the 
old use it was to be sung feria quarta ad matutinos, i.e. 
at Mattins' on Wednesday, in the Mozarabic breviary 
feria secunda post oct. epiphaniae. 

Eo Fa^ Mx Vr 
Fulgentis auctor aetheris, 
qui lunam lumen noctibus, 
solem dierum cursibus 
certo fundasti tramite ; 

nox atra iam depellitur, 5 

mundi nitor renascitur, 
nouusque iam mentis uigor 
dulces in actus erigit. 

laudes sonare iam tuas 

dies relatus admonet, 10 

r fulgentes Ft^ Vr. i lunae Mx. 3 diei P'a. 5 repellitur Mx. 

7 nouis Fa. oin. que Eo^ 8 actos Eo Fa'^, actis Fa', in ahum 

egerit Mx. 9 tuus F^. 10 relictos Fa. 

2 f . Gen. i. 16. 'Who hast set 4. txamite generally means 'a 

the moon to lighten the night, the side path,' here 'an orbit'; cp. 

sun with fixed orbit to lighten the 117. 3. For the allusion to the 

days' course.' regularity of the heavenly bodies, 

noctibus, dierum] These words see introduction to 2. 

are often used in the plural when 6. nitor is used of the brightness 

the reference is general, that is to of dawn by Lucr. iv. 540. 

say when no particular night or day 7. nouus] as being reinvigorated 

is thought of, see 6. 18, 66. 10, 69. by sleep. 

13, 83. 6. 8. dulces] 'delightful,' because 

3. cursibus is sometimes used in it is now a delight to do them, 

the plural, where we might expect 9. Cp. 2. 31. 

thesingular,see3. 29note. But here 10. admonet] Cp 61. 3. 
it is used because diertim is plural. 



230 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

uultusque caeli blandior 
nostra serenat pectora. 

uitemus omne lubricum, 

declinet praua spiritus, 

uitam facta non inquinent, 15 

linguam culpa non inplicet: 

sed sol diem dum conficit, 

fides profunda ferueat, 

spes ad promissa prouocet, 

Christo coniungat caritas. 20 

11 uultu Mx. 12 serena Eo', serenet Mx. 13 ergo {pio omne) Fa. 
1 4 declinat F^, declinent Vr. 15 factam Eo Fa. inquinet Fi/- Mx. 

16 lingua culpam Fa \'^r. implicent Fa. 19 adprouocet Fa. 

11. Cp. 21. 16 f. stead of the usual ne is once used 
blandior] 'more pleasant' than hy Cic. pro Clueni. f,-] a legibus non 

in the dark ; contrast the sinister recedamus, and is ifound in early 

meaning of ^/ir7«(/«j at 46. 14. writers, in Liv. vi. 41 non leges 

12. serenat] 'brightens,' 'illu- auspicaloferantur, non magistratus 
minates ' ; cp. 10. 2 note, Verg. creentur, in Verg. Georg. i. 456 and 
Aen. I. 255 uultu quo caelum tern- Hot. Sat. 11. v. ()inon. .. sileas, Epist. 
pestatesque serenat; ibid. iv. 477. I. i. 29 tion...co7itemnas. In later 
The general meaning is rather like writers it became common, cp. 60. 
that of Ps. xxix. (xxx.) 6 'Heaviness 17, 19, 25, 33, 58. 9, 82. 17. 

may endure for a night, but joy inquinent] 22. 12. 

Cometh in the morning.' 16. inplicet] 'entangle.' For the 

13. lubricum] 3. 12 note. sense cp. Prov. xxix. 5 f. 

14. declinet p.] The Thesaurus 17. conficit] ' completes.' 

gives a good many instances of this 18. For the theological virtues 

use of declinare, beginning with cp. 16. 21 note. 
Cic. Plane. ()i i4rbem...amia'ssimam fides... ferueat] 3. 19. 

declinaui. profunda] ' to its depths.' 

15. non with the subjunctive in- 



Hymn 48 

This hymn is remarkable and difficult. Not only are 
some of its expressions hard to explain, but it is not easy 
to see to whom the several stanzas are addressed. The 
last four seem to be addressed to Christ — the first also 
may be — the second invokes the Father, and the third, 
or rather the first two lines of it, the Trinity. 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN XLVIII 231 

Biraghi, p. 26, has some criticisms on I3f., against 
those who would claim the hymn for Ambrose. ' Come 
mai Ambrogio avrebbe cantato di cotale stranezze ? Che 
e questo settimo trono ? Come appellar Dio 1' onnipotente 
Sabaoth, Dio lo Hosanna ? Ambrogio sapeva benissimo 
che Sabaoth e un plurale che vale eserciti, che Hosanna 
e un ottativo Salva noi di grazia, Evviva. Forse a questi 
versi Adalberto di Magonza, famoso impostore, attinse 
quella sua cabalistica preghiera, condannata poi dal Con- 
cilio Romano, nell' Azione 3, nell' anno 745 a istanza 
di san Bonifacio. Qui sedes super septimum thronum... 
Angele Sabaoth... Angele Simiel...e simili altre peco- 
raggini e ribalderie. Se questo fosse vero, bisognerebbe 
supporre que quest' Inno anteriore a quella condanna, 
non piu sia stato dippoi accolto fra la viva liturgia.' See 
Dreves Ambrosius p. 17 note, Labbe Vlll. 305. 

However the hymn was undoubtedly in liturgical use, 
— being appointed for Mattins on Thursday in the old 
Benedictine series, and for the Iw^s^^y post oct. epiphamae 
in the Mozarabic breviary, Analecta XXVII. 70. Therefore 
an orthodox meaning for all its expressions had to be 
found. 

Eo Fai/' Mx Vr 
Deus, aeterni luminis 
candor inenarrahilis, 
uenturus diei iudex, 

I aeterne Eo Fa. 

I. 'Inexpressible brightness of Although the coniing to judge is 

the eternal light' comes from Wisd. generally connected with the Son, 

vii. 26 candor est enim lucis aetcrnae, it is possible also to connect it with 

a passage used also Heb. i. 3. and the Father, as in Acts "v"; 3'- 

by Prudentius, see 27. 30 note and 3- .dieij. ' «f 1'^"' '^ u •*'" ^^l 

3' , note done m this life : cp. Joh. ix. 4. Or 

' It is, however, possible that the it may refer to the day of ludg- 
author intended aeUrni lumims to ment (cp. 1 ^or- "^ 13. »v- 3). but 

go with Deus, 'God of eternal '" 'h^' ^^f^^'^ ^.''"''^."Pf JJ^l^ 
light,' addressed to the Father. word qualifying ^»« : M«/ day or 



232 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



qui mentis occulta uides, 

tu regnum caelorum tenes, 5 

et totus in uerbo tu es, 
per Filium cuncta regis, 
sancti Spiritus tu fons es. 

trinum nomen, alta fides, 

unum per omnia potens, 10 

mirumque per signum crucis 

tu rector inmensae lucis. 

4 uidens Fa. 5 tenens Fa. 8 sancto Mx. spiritui Mx Vr, 

spiritu Fa. 9 nominum F^. uides Vr. 10 potes Vr. 1 1 om. 

per Fa. 



' the last day.' The word is used, 
apparently, to suit the early morning 
hour at which the hymn was to be 
sung. 

4. occulta] 'secrets,' Rom. ii. 16, 
1 Cor. xiv. 25, 22. 13, 66. 14. 

5. for the repeated use of tu 
in this line, and in 12 i. etc. see 
1. 3 note. 

6. Cp. 3. 32. 

8. Neale quoted by Daniel IV. 29 
argues that this line, clearly de- 
claring the procession of the Spirit 
from the Father alone, shews that 
the hymn was written before A.D. 
700. The reasoning is precarious ; 
for on the one hand the doctrine of 
the double procession was taught 
long before that date (see Ambr. 
de Sfir. S. I. 152; and cp. Swete 
History of the Doctrine of the Pro- 
cession p. 120); and on the other 
hand to ascribe the procession to 
the Father without mentioning the 
Son is no denial of the double pro- 
cession, being merely a reference to 
John XV. 26. Nevertheless the fact 
that the hymn was in the Old 
Series (see Introduction) shews that 
it is very ancient. The reading 
of Fa Spiritu seems to indicate an 
original Spiritus tu, which we have 
restored. Otherwise the line must 
be scanned sancti i Spiritus fons es ; 
see 41. 33. 



9. ' Threefold the name, lofty the 
faith' ; cp. Sedul. Carm. i. 324 (of 
Arrius and Sabellius) iste fidem 
ternam, hie nou amplectitur unani ; 
Fort. V. V. 41 est Deus, alta fides, 
unus trinus et trinus untis. ' The 
name ' is used in its pregnant sense, 
so common in Scripture, the nature 
and essence of God as made known 
to men. But possibly, as no name 
has been mentioned, we should read 
numen ; cp. 27. 39 nuniine triplici, 
and the note on 91. 29 hoc mystico 
sub nomine. With the constant con- 
fusion in our Mss of o and u a 
copyist might write the more familiar 
word nomen for numen ; 10. 11 
note. 

10 from 5. 31. The order of the 
words is altered for the sake of the 
rhyme, — the // being hardly sounded 
before s in Latin, potens stands for 
potens es, or in loose apposition to 
nomen. 

11. The Son is once more ad- 
dressed, inirum qualifies signum; 
cp. Analecta LI. p. 85 Signum crucis 
mirabile. 

12. rector] 17. i, 29. 5, 66. 2. 

inmensae lucis] ' with incom- 
prehensible light,' a kind of descrip- 
tive gen. For inmensae cp. 1. 69 
note, and for the phrase Commodian 
Apol. 1 1 4 quidijuid est, unus est in 
inmenso lumine. How our Lord 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN XLVIII 233 



»S 



tu mundi constitutor es, 
tu septimo throne sedes 
iudex, ex alto humilis 
uenisti pati pro nobis. 

tu sabaoth omnipotens, 
hosanna summi culminis, 
tibi laus est mirabilis, 
tu rex primus, anastasis. 

tu fidei auditor es, 
et humiles tu respicis, 
tibi aha sedes thronus, 
tibi diuinus est honor. 



14 in s. Vr. 15 alta F^. 18 tu osianna Vr. 10 tu es Mx. 

prima Vr. 23 altae sedis Eo, alta sedis Fa, ahum uides thronum Mx. 

24 tibique Eo. honor est Eo. 



20 



reigns by means of the Cross needs 
no explanation. 

14. septimo throno] i.e. on the 
throne of the seventh and highest 
heaven; for which cp. Juvenc. i. 
358 caeli septemplicis aethra, Prud. 
Cath. VII. 36 caeli principem sep- 
tetnplicis ; Paul. Nol. Carm. xxxii. 
182 f. hoc etiain caelum, quod tios 
sublime uidemus, I sex aliis infra 
est...f>ostqiu thronos seplem, post tot 
caelestia regna \ cetera pars omnis, 
quae cunctis eminet ultra. There 
were seven heavens because there 
were seven planets, Plin. Hist. 11. 6. 
[See Irenaeus Demonstration of the 
Apost. Preaching 10, with J. A. 
Robinson's important note, and p. 41 
of his Introduction (S.P.C.K. 1920).] 

17. sabaoth] (like 'hosanna') is 
treated as a name of Gfxl. Cp. (e.g.) 
Sibyll. Or. I. 316 6 ni-ya^ Za^awd 
Sf xoXw^ety, and the famous sequence 
'Alma chorus Domini compangat 
nomina summi : Messias, Soter, Em- 
manuel, Sabaoth, Adonai ' (Mone i. 
p. 5). It was commonly understood 
as a kind of adjectival epithet ; see 
Ambr. de Fide iv. i. 14. 



18. hosanna] 'Thou art the 
Hosanna of the highest height' 
The gen. is a loose one of quality. 

20. rex primus answers to Rev. 
i. 5 prriuceps regtim. Daniel I. 69 
reads prima and sees a reference 
to ' the first resurrection ' of Rev. 
XX. 5 ; but to say that Christ is 
the first resurrection would be 
strange. 

anastasis] 'the resurrection,' cp. 
Joh. xi. 25. It we might read 
primae, the meaning would be 
' Thou an the King of the first 
resurrection ' ; we have anastasis as 
a genitive at 110. 4. Cp. Commod. 
Insir. II. iii. i. The writer loves an 
imposing foreign word. 

21. fidei auditor] ' the hearer of 
faithful piayer.' The glossator of 
Eo (Bodl. Jun. 25), who writes the 
gloss der du helfant bist, evidently 
translates adiutor, which would refer 
to Mk. ix. 23 adiuua increduli- 
tat em meant. 

22. Lk. i. 48. 

24. diuinus] because the praise 
lauds Thee as God ; cp. 49. 20. 



234 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

Christo aeternoque Deo 25 

Patri cum sancto Spiritu 
uitae soluamus munera 
a saeculis in saecula. 

25. Here, as in 5. 29 and other saectili, and soluamus as at 82. 12. 

hymns, the doxology begins with uitae munera has quite another 

Christ ; so does the apostolic bless- sense at 42. 44. 
ing 2 Cor. xiii. 14. It is noticeable that the rhyme in 

27. The meaning seems to be « or «', which has been carried through 

'let us perform (lit. 'pay' as in as far as line 22 (see the note on 10), 

2. 32) the duties of life ' ; rather there ceases : final or it, and in the 

like 45. 22. uitae is for the usual last two lines a, are put in its place. 

Hymn 49 

This fine if rugged hymn continually reminds us of 
the Te Deuiu, upon which it is based, and phrases of 
which it incorporates. The text seems to have suffered 
in the course of its transmission no less than that of 42. 
There are several defective lines as these are handed 
down in the MSS, viz. i, 3, 17, 29, 33, 34, 35, 38. Of them 
29 and 33 f. being quotations from Scripture may perhaps 
have been unmetrical from the first. The defects of the 
other lines are probably due to mistakes made in the 
copying. Even in rhythmical hymns spondees are very 
rare in the last foot of the verse, but here they occur at 
lines 9, II, 13, 15, 19, 21, 23, 29, 31, 33, 37, 39,41, 43,47. 

In the old series the hymn was appointed for Mattins 
on Friday. It did not pass into the Mozarabic use. 

Eo Fav^ Vr 
Christe, caeli Domine,' 
mundi saluator maxima, 
qui nos crucis munera 
mortis soluisti legibus, 

I rex caeli Vr manu poster. 3 hoc crucis Vr manu post->. 4 legimus 
F^, crimine Vr^. 

I f. In Vat. reg. 11 a later hand the line rex after Christe, and in 3 
of about the Xth cent, adds above hoc after nos. 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN XLIX 235 



te nunc orantes poscimus, 5 

tua conserues munera, 

quae per legem catholicam 

cunctis donasti gentibus. 

tu uerbum Patris aeterni 

ore diuino editus, 10 

Deus ex Deo subsistens, 

unigenitus Filius. 

te uniuersa creatura 

mundi fatetur dominum, 

iussu Patris inchoata, 15 

tuis perfecta uiribus. 

tibi omnes angeli 

caelestem praestant gloriam, 

te chorus archangelorum 

diuinis laudant uocibus. 20 

5 te orantes Vr^ te deprecantes Vr-. 6 conseruas Fa, conseruis Vr. 

7 quern Fa. 9 aeterne Fa/-. 11 consistens Vr. 14 fatentur Vr. 

16 perfectis Eo. 15. 16 patris inch, tuis perfecta uiribus iussu F^. 

1 7 et ang. Vr manu post. 20 laudibus {pro uocibus) Fa. 



4 is based upon Acts ii. 24, Rom. 
viii. 2 lex enim spiritus uitae in 
Christo lesu liberauit tne a lege... 
mortis ; cp. 36. 19 legibus infertii 
with the note ; 66. 22, 111. 13. 

6. munera] ' the gifts ' of life and 
salvation. The ' catholic law ' is 
opposed to 'the laws of death' in 4. 

9. uerbum] 1. 3 note. Prud. 
Cath. XI. 17 ex ore quanilibel Pa- 
tris I sis ortus et uerbo editus, \ tainen 
paterno in pectore \ sophia callebas 
prius. I quae prompta caelum con- 
didit, I caelum diemque et cetera, \ 
uirtute uerbi effecta sunt \ haec 
cuncta, nam uerbum Deus. 

Patris aeterni] Cp. Te Deum 2 
te aeternuni Pattern otnnis terra 
ueneratur. 

10. editus agrees in gender with 
the sense of the passage. 

1 1. Cp. Oebv iK deov of the Nicene 
creed ; 36. 28. 



13. Rev. V. 13. creaiura, seni- 
orum in 21, and beatoruvt in 41 are 
to be scanned as trisyllables. 

14. Cp. Te Deum i te Dominum 
confitemur. 

15. Cp. 1. 10 omniumque tu 
creator, quae Pater nasci iubet ; 44. 
4, 60. 5 f. ; Ambr. Hex. vi. 8 
\_Moyses descripsit\ quod produxerit 
terra iuxta Dei omnipotentis im- 
perium operationemque domini lesu 
uirgulta de terris et omnetn animam 
uiuentem secundum genus. 

1 7. We should perhaps read with 
the corrector of Vat. reg. 1 1 et an- 
gelt. 

18. caelestem] because the angels 
who give the praise dwell in 
heaven. 

gloriam] 'praise' as at 61. t6, 
79. 7 and often. 

19. cborus] Cp. Te Deum 7. 

20. diuinla] because the words 



236 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



te multitude seniorum, 

bis duodenus numerus, 

odoribus plenas gestans 

supplex adorat pateras. 

tibi cherubin et seraphin 25 

throno paterni luminis 

senis alarum plausibus 

clamore iugi personant. 

sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, 

Dominus Deus sabaoth ; -30 

omne caelum atque terra 

tua sunt plena gloria. 

hosianna filius Dauid ! 

benedictus es a Patre, 
21 seniorum mult. Vr. 23 odoramentis Eo Fa Vr, (omentis Fi/'). plena 
Vr. gestant omnes. 24 adorant ow«^j. 26 throni omnes. 27 ala Fa. 
28 clamorem F^, clamori Fa. 34 om. es omnes exc. Vr manu poster. 



uttered praise Christ as God ; cp. 
48. 24 diuinus honor. 

2 1 f. ' Thee the company of elders 
...humbly worship, bearing bowls 
full of incense.' Rev. v. 8. 

22. numerus] as in 45, Te Deum 
8 prophetarum laudabilis numerus ; 
Cyprian Epist. xi. g/oriosus marly- 
rum numerus; Damas. xii. 5 hie 
numerus procerum, seruat qui cUtaria 
Christi. 

23. odoribus] The ms reading 
gives a syllable too many. It may 
have come in from the Vulgate 
of Rev. V. 8 phialas aureus plenas 
odorameniorum, and the right word 
here may be odoribus, which easily 
comes to mean 'incense'; cp. Plaut. 
Menaechm. 354 incendite odores ; 
TibuU. II. ii. 3 ttraniur odores \ quos 
tener e terra diuite mittit Arabs ; 
Juvenc. I. 10 cum forte adytis arisque 
in/erret odores \ Zacharias ; Ambr. 
Hex. V. 79 phoenix... facit sibi the- 
cam de ture et murra et ceteris odori- 
bus. 

25 f. Is. vi. 2, Rev. iv. 8. tibi, 
the MS reading, may have come 



from the Te Deum 4 : if kept, it is 
to be scanned with the following 
che- as an anapaest or tribrach. 
But perhaps we should read te... 
personant, 'sound Thy praise,' as at 
110. I ; cp. 47 below and 2. 31. 

26. tlirono] The ms throni is so 
strange a gen. that I can but think 
that throno was the original. Either 
word must mean ' at the throne ' ; 
^Ar<?«? would come from the following 
genitives, throno would be an abl. 
like caelo in 42, cp. Fort. 11. xiy. 25 
sidereo chorus iste throno cum carne 
locandtis. The ^XwSi&e paterni luminis 
recurs at 66. i. [Conceivably, how- 
ever, throni is nom., and intended 
for the title of an order of angels, in 
which case the writer probably under- 
stood that they were so called from 
forming a throne of the paternum 
lumen, like the Cherub of Ezekiel.] 

27, 'with the beatings of their 
six wings.' 

29 f. Is. vi. 3. 

30. Cp. Burn Niceta p. xcvi. 
33 f. Mt. xxi. 9 ; cp. Ps. cxvii. 
(cxviii.) 25 f., 104. 33 f. 






EARLIER HYMNAL, HYMN XLIX 237 



qui in nomine Domini 35 

uenisti ex celsis Deus. 

tu agnus inmaculatus 

datus es terrae uictima, 

qui sanctorum uestimenta 

tuo lauisti sanguine. 40 

te multitudo beatorum 
caelo locata martyrum, 
palmis insignis, coronis, 
ducem sectantur gloriae : 

quorum nos addas numero, 45 

te deprecamur, Domine ; 
una uoce te sonamus, 
uno laudamus carmine. 

35 dei omnes. 36 de F^. domine {pro Deus) omnes. 38 addit es 

\t manu post. 42 caeli F^ Vr. 43 psalm is Fa. signis Eo Fa^. 

et cor. omnes. 46 precamur Vr. 47 sonemus F^, desonamus Eo 

(desonemus Fa). 48 unum Vr. laudemus Fa^. 



bosianna of Vat. reg. 11 is as 
correct a transliteration as the usual 
kosanna. Or we might read hosanna 
Jilio Daiiid, cp. 104. 36 ; but this 
coming direct from Mt. xxi. 9 would 
scarcely have been altered. [Words- 
worth and White give osianna or 
ossianna as the reading of several 
Mss of the Vulg. ad loc. Sabatier at 
Mt. xxi. 15 gives the same form for 
the Old Latin.] 

35. For the sake of the metre I 
follow Blume in reading Domini in 
35, Deus in 36. 

36. I omit de as not required. 
Perhaps, however, it is a relic of 
an original Deus : uenisti Deus ex 
celsis. 

37. I Pet. i. 19, cp. Exod. xii. 5. 
39 f. Rev. vii. 14. 

42. caelo locata] see note on 
line 26. 

43. I have taken the reading in- 
signis of Vat. reg. ii, but have 
omitted the et which mars the metre 



without helping the sense ; if we 
keep it, coronis must be scanned as 
a dissyllable. We have had several 
cases in these hymns of words un- 
connected by any particle, e.g. 34. 
20 sanguis, unda profluit, cp. Fort. 
X. XV. 10 pal ma, corona decus. s ignis 
of the other mss seems to be a cor- 
ruption. 

F'or the combination palmis... 
coronis see 24. 8 note. 

44. sectantur] Rev. viii. 17, xix. 
14, cp. 19. 10. d. gloriae like rex 
gloriae in the Psalm. 

45. Cp. 16. 30, and Te Deum. 
The words addas numero here per- 
haps indicate that the writer found 
numerari not munerari in Te Deum 
(Blume Ursprung des Ambronan- 
ischen Lobgesanges p. 1 4). 

47. te sonamus] like 2. 31 te... 
sonet. 

48. uno is more vigorous than 
unum which Blume reads. 



238 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

Hymn 50 

This hymn was in the old series appointed for Mattins 
on Saturday: himnus die sabati dicendus is the rubric 
in Vat. reg. 1 1. 

Eo Y24 Vr 

Dial luce reddita 
primis post somnum uocibus 
Dei canamus gloriam, 
Christi fatentes gratiam ; 

per quem creator omnium 5 

diem noctemque condidit, 
aeterna lege sanciens 
ut semper succedant sibi. 

tu uera lux fidelium, 

quem lex ueterna non tenet 10 

'. ■ . noctis nee ortus succedens, 

aeterno fulgens lumine, 

Christe, precamur, annue 

orantibus seruis tuis, 

iniquitas haec saeculi 15 

ne nostram captiuet fidem. 

4 fatente gratia Fa, fauente gratia Eo F^. 6 condens Vr. 

lo aeterna Eo Fa^. ii noctetn nee ortu(orto) Eo F^. sucidis Fa, 

occidens Vr. 1 3 annuas Vr, abnue Fa. 1 5 ne {^pro haec) Vr. 

16 oin. ne Vr. 

1. Cp. 2. 31. [Perhaps the reading which would 

5. Cp. 49. 15 note. best explain the variants would be 

creator omnium] 5. i. noctis nee ortu succidens, ' neither 

6f. Cp. 18. 2 f . succumbing to the rise of night.'] 

8. sibi] ' each other.' In our hymn, as in 45, the first 

9 f. ' Thou the true light of the three stanzas are taken up by the 

faithful, shining with eternal light, invocation and the prayer is not ex- 

who art not bound by the ancient pressed until stanza iv. 

law (viz. of constant change, men- uera lux] Joh. i. 9, cp. 3. 5. 

tioned in line 7), nor by the rising 10. ueterna] This rare word is 

of each successive night ' ; cp, 6. 31 more likely to have been changed 

note. Not unlike is Sedul. Carm. into aeterna than vice versa. 

'V- \}) genitor rerum, qui mundum 11. noctis... ortus] see 6. 10 

lege cohercet \ et nulla sub lege manet. note. 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN L 239 



non cogitemus impie, 
inuideamus nemini, 
laesi non reddamus uicem, 
uincamus in bono malum, 
absit nostris e cordibus 
ira, dolus, superbia; 
absistat auaritia, 
malorum radix omnium. 

uinum mentem non occupet 
ebrietate perdita, 
sed nostro sensui conpetens 
tuum bibamus poculum. 

conseruet pacis foedera 
non simulata caritas, 

30 bonum Fa. 26 perpeti (-te) Eo Fa^. 

Vr^ (nost. sensus Vr*). 



25 



30 
27 sit nostris sensibus 



12. aetemo-.-lumine] 48. I. 

15. Cp. 60. I. 'Grant... that this 
iniquity of the world may not bring 
our faith into captivity.' Cp. Ambr. 
Apol. Datiid 49 praecedit iniquitas, 
peccatum sequitur. radix est iniqui- 
tas, Jructus autem radicis est culpa, 
utide uidetur iniqitiias ad mentis 
itnprobitatem referri, peccatum ad 
prolapsionem corporis, grauior ini- 
quitas tamquam materia peccatorum. 

16. captiuet] Cp. Rom. vii. 23 
legem .. .captiuantem me in lege pec- 
cati; 109. 19. 

The MS Vr omits 17 and 18, and 
begins 19 with the words non cored- 
damus. 

17. non cogitemus] Cp. 47. 15 
note. 

19. Cp. Rom. xii. 17, i Thess. 
V. 15, 1 Pet. iii. 9. 

reddere uicem means to requite 
either with good (as at Jud. ix. 16 
reddidistis uicem beneficiis eius, Fort. 
I. vii. 12 red<le benigne uicem), or 
with evil (as here, cp. Fort, iv.vi. f2 
nesciit offensis ira rcferre uices). At 
Lam. iii. 64 reddes eis uicem Doinine 
iuxta opera manuum suarum, and 



at 86. II it means ' recompense ' 
whether with good or evil. 

20. Rom. xii. 21, cp. 43. 16. 

23 f. I Tim. vi. lo, where the 
Vulgate translates (piXapyvpla by 
cupiditas. Prud. Hamart. 257 f. 
auri namque fames... inde seges sce- 
lerum. radix et sola mcUorum. 

absistat] =a^i^;V as at 81. 10. 

25. Eph. V. 18. 
occupet] as at 46. 20. 

26. perdita] 'abandoned,' hence 
' uncontrolled.' The reading perpeti 
would come from 32. 

27. sensui] a dissyllable, unless 
we read sensu, which would here 
presumably be a dative. But con- 
petens 'suitable to,' 'compatible 
with our intelligence,' is sometimes 
found with abl. [Was not the 
original reading sed nostri sensus 
compotes ?] 

28. Cp. 3. 22. ' Christ's cup ' is 
not that which He drank, but the 
drink which He gives (J oh. iv. 14, 
vii. 37). 

29. pacis foedera] 78. 16. Cp. 
Eph. iv. 3. 

30. Cp. 2 Cor. vi. 6, I Tim. i. 5. 



240 EA RLY LA TIN H YMNS 

sit inlibata castitas 
credulitate perpeti. 

addendis non sit praediis 

malesuada semper famis ; 

si affluant diuitiae, 35 

prophetae nos psalmus regat. 

praesta, Pater ingenite, 

totum ducamus iugiter 

Christo placentes hunc diem 

sancto repleti Spiritu. 40 

31 sed Eo Ys.\}/. 33 adtendis Fa. 34 mala suadet ¥^ (-dat Fa). 

35 affluent ¥\j/, ut se fluant Vr, diuitiae si affl. Fa. 36 propetiae non 

ps. redgat Fa. 

31. castitas and fides are thus nom. famis which is used by Prud. 
linked together at 3. 18, 6. 23, and Psych. 479 and some other late 
often. Lact. Diu. Inst. i. xvii. 11, writers. Cp.46. 19; Rdnsch p. 263. 
VI. xxiii. 36 uses the phrase inlibata 35. ' If riches increase ' from Ps. 
castitas; and inlibata recurs at 87. Ixi. (Ixii.) 11. 'The prophet' is the 
II. psalmist, cp. 41. 2 note. 

32. credulitate] 'faith,' cp. Fort. From ajffluo come our words 
XI. i. \ in qua et integritas creduli- 'affluent,' 'affluence'; cp. 92. 20 
talis ostenditur ; 1. 6i note. affluis. This use of the word is 

33 f. ' Let there be no greed that common in classical writers, as Sail, 

ever prompts to evil in the piling up Cat. xxxvi. 4 cu>n...domi otium at- 

of estates.' When Aeneas visited the que diuitiae, quae prima mortales 

lower regions malesuada fames was putant, affluereul. Especially does 

one of the grisly forms that he saw Cic. use affluens^abundans. 

at the mouth of hell, Verg. Aen. vi. 37. ingenitus is seldom thus 

276. So Prud. Psych. 404 speaks of used without its correlative uni- 

malesuada luxuries, Plant. Gapt. genitus, as at 41. 33 f. 

325 odi ego aurum . multa multis 38 f. Cp.46. 23 f. 

saepe suasit perperam. Note the 40. Eph. v. 18 



Hymn 51 

Hymn 51 was in the old series appointed for daily use 
at Prime throughout the year. It was adopted in the 
later hymnal also and was therein reserved for Prime 
during Lent, its former place having been taken by 
hymn 81 lam lucis orto sidere. It was originally written 
for monastic use : see the notes on lines 4, 6, and 13. 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN LI 241 



1 -nas laudes PIb. 
familia Hr. 7 oremus omnes. 

10 simul et Eo Fr Hr. 

I. ' After the mattin lauds which 
we have sung to the Trinity.' post 
in late Latin came to govern an 
abl. ; cp. Ronsch p. 408. Blume in- 
geniously makes one word of post- 
matutinis, and explains ' in the 
after-mattin lauds,' identical with 
' Prime.' In that case the rursus 
would presumably mean 'as we did 
yesterday and other days ' ; but this 
is not nearly so natural. 

3. admonet] Cp. 47. 10. 

4. The word paterfamilias is 
borrowed from the parable of the 
labourers in the vineyard, Mt. xx. 
I f., upon which stanzas I and 11 are 
based, as is hymn 66. The use of 
the word here denotes that the hymn 
was in the first place written for 
household (monastic) use, as indeed 
we might conclude from septies in 

6. ' lest the service of God pass 
by'; cp. 66. 5 f . \^Opus Dei is a 
technical word in Benedictine lan- 
guage for divine service : for instance 
S. Bened. Reg. l agant ibidem opus 
Dei ubi operantur...non eos praeter- 
eant Iiorae constitutae.\ The last two 
syllables oi praetereat coalesce ; -eat. 



Eo Farsi^ Hbr Ih Vbs 
Post matutinis laudibus, 
quas Trinitati psallimus, 
psallamus rursus admonet 
uerus paterfamilias. 

simus semper solliciti 
ne praetereat opus Dei, 
sed adoremus sedule 
sicut docet apostolus : 
psallamus mente Domino, 
psallamus simul spiritu, 
rie uaga mens in turpi bus 
inertes tegat animos. 

2 trinitatis Hr, trinitate Fa. 
8 decet Fa. 



4 ueris F^. 
apostolos Eo^ Fa. 



7. The MS reading sed oremus 
sedule is defective in metre. I would 
read adoremus, the word used in 
I Cor. xiv. 25 cadens in faciem 
adorabit Deum, to verse 15 of which 
chapterallusion is made immediately 
after. The writer's eye would pass 
on from the doi sed; and moreover 
adorare meaning ' to pray ' was 
much rarer than the simple orare. 
The reference in 8 seems, however, 
to be to what follows, not to line 7. 

gf. I Cor. xiv. 15 orabo spiritu, 
orabo et mente: psallam spiritu, 
psallam et mente, 82 21 f. It seems 
to me that the writer reversed St 
Paul's order of words, writing mente 
...spiritu, to suit the metre, but 
that the older Mss have spoilt this 
by inserting et before spiritu from 
the recollection of the et before 
mente. I would therefore omit the 
et, for which simtd is substituted. 
If it be retained simul et must be 
scanned as a kind of tribrach. 

11. uaga mens] 67. 15, 82. 27, 
94. 14 ; cp. 20. 1 1 note, Prud. Psych. 
312 luxuria...ocults uaga. 

12. tegat] 'shroud,' as with a 
pall of darkness ; cp. 21. 5 note. 

16 



242 EA RLY LA TIN H YMNS 

sed septies in hac die 

dicamus laudes Domino, 

diuinitati perpeti 15 

debita demus gloriae. 

15 diuinitate Fa Hr^. perpetim Eo Hr. 16 debitani Fs Vs. 

gloriam Fs Vs, gloria Hb. 

1 3. septies] i.e. at the seven 1 5 f. ' Let us give the eternal 
canonical hours, the observance of Godhead His due of glory,' cp. 
which was as yet confined to monas- 49. 18. 

tic use, derived from Ps. cxviii. 16. debita... gloriae] Cp. 5. 13 

(cxix.) 164 ; cp. 82. 9. cordis i?na (note). Daniel reads de- 

14. Identical with 63. i. /^//aw ^/£)r/a;« with the later Mss. 



Hymn 52 

52 was of course always sung at Terce : see line 3. 
The rubric in Vat. reg. 1 1 is Hymnus ad tertia cotidian., 
in Rheinau 34 hymnus priuatis diebus ad tertiam. The 
hymn passed into the Mozarabic use {Analecia xxvil. 
103), but not into the later hymnal. 

Eo Fas^ Hr Max Vrs 

Certum tenentes ordinem 
pio poscamus pectore 
bora diei tertia 
trinae uirtutis gloriam : 

ut simus habitaculum 5 

illi sancto Spiritui, 

qui quondam in apostolis 

hac bora distributus est. 

I certo Vr^. ordine Fa^. 2 pascamus Vr (paschamus Fa). 4 gloria 
Fa, gloriae Eo Y\l> Hr. uirtutem trini numinis Max. 8 haec Fa. 

I. certum] ' fixed,' cp. 27. 2 note. in habitaculum Dei in Spiritu ; cp. 

1. ' Let us with dutiful heart pray 46. ayf. habitaculum '\%\x%qA^\.ZQ. id 

to the glory of the threefold might,' of the body as 'the abode 'of the soul, 

i.e. to the glorious Trinity. For 6 f . Acts ii. i 1. and 15, 16. if. 

this use of the abstract gloriam see illi is used emphatically as at 19. 2. 

the Index. 7. in apostolis] The abl. is here 

5. Eph. ii. 22 uos coaedificamini used in the same sense as the accus. 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN LUI 243 



hoc gradientes ordine 

ornauit cuncta splendide 10 

regni caelestis conditor 

aeternae uitae praemiis. 

9 quo [pro hoc) Max. ordinetn Mx. lo splendida Eo Hr*. 

I celesti Fa. 12 praemia Eo (-miae F^), praemium Fa. 



9 f. ' Them that walk in this 
order (according to this rule) the 
founder of the kingdom of heaven 
has rewarded in all respects glori- 
ously, even with the gifts of eternal 
life.' Perhaps we should read/r^/r- 
mia. The use of the doub'e ace. 
(which in classical writers was con- 
fined to a few words of asking, 
teaching, concealing) was wide in 
early and late Latin. Any verb 
which takes an ace. of the person or 



of the thing may take both ace's 
together, as Ter. Phorm. 947 argen- 
turn quod habes condonamus te. Act. 
Fratr. Arual. Corp. p. 550. 7 uic- 
tores palmas et coronas argenteas 
iwHorauenint. In late Latin among 
many instances we find in an in- 
scription aetatem tantos onerare do- 
lores, and Commodian Apol. 418 
qt4em et polauerunt secundum scrip- 
turas acetunt. 



Hymn 53 

The rubric in the MSS is either ad sexta or ad sextam 
except in Rheinau 34 which has ad sextain pHuatis 
diebus'. 

Eo Fai/' Mx Vr 

Dicamus laudes Domino 

feruente prompto spiritu, 

hora uoluta sexies 

nos ad orandum prouocat : 

quia in hac fidelibus 5 

uerae salutis gratia 

beati agni hostia 

crucis uirtute redditur : 
^ feruenti Vr. promptu Eo Fai^. rursus {^pro pr.) Vr. 
5 qui Faf. hoc Mx. 6 uera Mx. gloriae Eo. 

8 crucem Fa(?)^. uirtutes Eo Fa. 



3 uolata Fa. 
7 agnis Fa. 



1. Identical with 61. 14. 

2. Blume reads prompti, but 
prumptu of the MSS points to an 
original prompto, which comes from 
16. 3 dignare promplus ingeri: 
'with ready and fervent spirit.' 



rursus of Vat. reg. 1 1 might come 
from 61. 3. 

4. prouocat has a good sense as at 
47. 19, 112. 29, cp. 108. 1 7. Cp. Heb. 
X. 24. Here it governs dicamus. 

5 f. ' Hecause at this hour the 

16 — a 



244 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

cuius luce clarissima 

tenebricat meridies : lo 

sumamus toto pectore 

tanti splendoris gratiam. 

9 lux Fa. lo meridie F^, meridiem Fa. 12 gratia Faf, 

gratiae Vr. 

grace of true salvation is restored to midday is darkened.' The first refer- 

believers by the sacrifice of the ence is to Mt. xxvii. 45 ; cp. 56. 

blessed Lamb, by the power of the 1 3 f- ; but the author seems at the 

cross,' Joh. xix. 14. Or there may same time to wish to suggest that 

be a reference here already, as there the midday sun is dark in com- 

is in 1 1 f., to the midday communion parison with Christ, 

on a fast day as at 100. 2 f. when we 10. tenebricare is used in the 

should translate '...by the grace of Old Latin, but not in the Vulgate, 

our true salvation (Christ) the sacri- of Amos viii. 9, Lk. xxiii. 45 ; cp. 

fice of the blessed Lamb is restored Ronsch p. 159. 

to believers....' For salutis thus 11. sumamus] Cp. 107. 16. 

used cp. 23. 14, 36. 27, 38. 29. In 12. tanti splendoris] = /aw j//^«- 

either interpretation beati agni is didi: of Him who was splendor 

the gen. of definition. paternae gloria e, Z. i. 
9. 'by the brilliant light of whom 

Hymn 54 

The original use of 54 was ad nonam throughout the 
year, and so also in the Mozarabic breviary, Analecta 
xxvn. p. 105. It was adopted in the later series of 
hymns, and, as in that series hymn i%Rerum Deus tenax 
uigor was the usual one for this hour, our hymn was 
appointed for None during Lent. 

Ecdhjlov Fais^ Gm Hbcd/3 lop Mx Vrs 

Perfectum trinum numerum 
ternis horarum terminis, 
laudes canentes debitas 
nonam dicentes psallimus. 

I perfecto -no -ro Ev lop Vs. 3 debita Vr. 4 nona F^ (nota 

Fa) Vr. dicente Vr. 

I. 'The threefold number ac- kind of apposition to nonam in 4; 

complished in periods of three hours or they may be ace. absolute, as the 

each,' i.e. 'the ninth hour having later copyists who wrote perfecto 

come.' trino numero probably took the 

The ace's in- i may be in a passage; see 33. 16 note. 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN LV 245 

sacrum Dei mysterium 5 

puro tenentes pectore, 
Petri magistri regula 
signo salutis prodita, 

et nos psallamus spiritu 

adhaerentes apostolis : 10 

qui plantas adhuc debiles 

Christi uirtute dirigant. 

6 purum Fa. canentes Mx. pectori EIv. 7 patris Mx. magistra 
F^. regulam Ecv Vr, regulae He. 8 signum Fa^ Ip Vr. proditam Vr, 
proditum He. 9 at Edo. om. nos Fa. spiritum F^ H/3, spiritus Vs. 
10 apostoli H/3. n mentes Mx. habeni (pro 3.Ahnc) omnes praeierVx. 
12 uirtutem Fi Gm Hb|3 lo. diligant Eel Fi Gm Hc/3 lop, dirigunt Vr. 

3. Cp. 16. 3. psallamus (cp. Ul. 10) and adhae- 

4. nonam] i.e. the office so-called, rentes. Y ox adhaerentes apostolis c^. 
' None.' 10. 15 note. 

5. 'holding the saered mystery 11. ' And may they (the apostles) 
of God in a pure heart ' ; this mys- make straight our feet (ankles), that 
tery being the faith in the Trinity. are yet weak, by the power of 
See I Tim. iii. 9 habentes viysteritim Christ.' For dirigant in this sense 

fidei in conscientia pira, which pas- cp. Ceisus viii. x. 1 frangi riirsus 

sage the hymn-writer has in mind. ossa et dirigi dehent ; Prosper in Ps. 

7 f. ' after the rule of our master cxxxiv. 18 diriguntur pedes claudo- 
Peter made known to us by the rum. The variant habent would be 
miracle of healing,' viz. that of the due to the copyists not understand- 
lame man ; see Acts iii. i f. and ing the construction here, 
especially St Peter's words in t/. 16. plantas] strictly 'the soles' of 
magistri — ^viho taught us thus to the feet, probably connected with 
do.' planus, but here used for talos, as 

9. ' Let us also (as well as the in Acts iii. 7 consolidatae sunt bases 

lame man. Acts iii. 8) sing, clinging eitis et plantae (rd a<pvpd). 
in spirit to the apostles ' (ibid. 11). Chr. uirtute] 'by the healing 

psallamus looks back to psallimus power,' in reference to Acts iii. 12, 

in 4. spiritu seems to go with both iv. 7. 



Hymn 55 

The rules of Caesarius and Aurelian prescribe this 
hymn ad sextam tempore paschali (Blume Cursiis pp. i(>, 
40). In Vat. rag. 11, the one MS that contains it, the 
rubric is simply ad sexta. The metre is noticeably 
correct, except in lines 2, 6, 34, 36. The hymn, though 



246 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

appointed for sext, is here placed after hymn 54, because 
of its special appointment by both bishops of Aries as an 
Easter hymn. 

Vr 

lam sexta sensim uoluitur 

ter binis hora cursibus, 

diesque puncto aequabili . 

utramque noctem respicit. 

uenite, serui, supplices 5 

mente, ore, extollite 

dignis beatum laudibus 

nomen Dei cum cantico. 

hoc namque tempus illud est 

quod saeculorum iudicem 10 

iniusta morti tradidit 

mortalium sententia, 

cum sol repente territus, 

horrore tanti criminis 

mortem minatus saeculis, 15 

diem refugit impium. 

6 inseruit et Vr^ manus recentior. 

I . sensim refers to the gradual often in late writers, cp. Quint, x. 

passing one by one of the first six iii. 14 ncc dissimiilauit adulescens, 

hours. iertium iam diem esse, quod...non 

uoluitur] 63. 3, 56. 1,69.4. inuemrei ; Aetheriae Peregrinatio 

3f. 'the day from an equidistant li. zkis diebus, qtiod sanctus Moyses 

point (i.e. midday) regards both ascendit in montetn Domini. A third 

nights,' viz. the night past and the interpretation would make quod the 

night to come. nom. to tradidit., and sententia abl. 

5. Ps. cxxxiv. 1 laudate serui saeculorum] ' of the world,' and 
Dominum ; 82. 18. so in 15. 

6. mente, ore] 'with mind and 13 f. Mt. xxvii. 45, cp. 1. 43, 
mouth,' cp. 16. 5. Probably there 63. 9; Prud. Cath. ix. 79 f. sol 
is an allusion to i Cor. xiv. 15. refugit et lugubri sordidus ferru- 

8. Ps. Ixviii. (Ixix.) 30 laudato gine \ igneum reliqiiit axem seque 
nomen Dei cum cantico. maerens abdidit : | fertur horruisse 

9. Joh. xix. 14. mundus noctis aetemae chaos. The 

10. quod] 'at which,' in a clas- darkening of the sun was to be a 
sical writer would be quo, cp. 43. i sign of the end of the age {mortem 
note. Or perhaps quod may be a saeculis), Mt. xxiv. 29, cp. 120. 9. 
conjunction meaning 'when,' as 18. Gen. xviii. 2 f. The MS read- 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN LV 247 

hoc et beatus tempore 

Abraham fideh'ter rei 

peritus in mysterio 

tres uidit, unum credidit. 20 

banc ad precandum congruam 

saluator horam tradidit, 

cum diceret fideUbus 

Patrem rogandum seruulis. 

nee non et ille pertinax 35 

hostis fidei gratiam, 

quam praedicauit gentibus, 

hoc est adeptus tempore 

et nos amore debito, 

timore iusto subditi, 30 

aduersus omnes impetus, 

quos saeuus hostis incutit, 

unum rogemus et Patrem 

Deum regemque Filium 

18, 19 reperitus Vr. 26 usus hostis Vr. 33 inseruit et manus rec. 

ing Abraham fideliter re peritus fldeliter] Abraham's faith is 

needs correction. I would by the dwelt upon in Rom. iv. 3, Gal. iii. 

addition of a stroke (perhaps already 6, Heb. xi. 8 ff., Jas. ii. 23, cp. 

added by the corrector of the MS) i Maccab. ii. 52. 
read rei; 'By faith {fideliter) 19. peritus is often found with a 

Abraham knowing the truth saw in gen. ofthe thing known, e.g. Liv. ni. 

a mystery three and believed but ^\ peritus rertim popularium. 
one.' The phrase became a com- 2 if. Joh. iv. 6. 

monplace : cp. Ambr. de Cain 30 23. Perhaps the author under- 

tres tiidet, unum adorat ; de Fid. stood the ' hour ' in Joh. iv. 33 

Res. II. 96 Abraham... fidelis Deo... to mean the hour of the day. The 

Trinitatem in typo uidit,... tres sus- emphasis is on Patrem. 
piciens, unum adorans \ Aug. c. 25. Acts xxii. 6, xxvi. 13. The 

Maxim. Ar. II. xxvi. 8 et ipse allusion is to St Paul's conversion. 
Abraham tres uidit et unum ado- 27. gentibtis] to the Gentiles; 

rauit', Prud. Apoth. 28 f.; Fort. v. Acts ix. 15, Rom. xi. 13, Gal. ii. 7, 

v. 47 tres uidet aequales, unum ue- Eph. iii. 8. 

neratiis adorat. It came to be re- 29. et nos] like those whom 

garded as a biblical text. ' And Saul persecuted and then joined, 
there he satt and saughe 3 Per- 33. Cp. 6. 29, 43. 13. Perhaps 

sones, and worschipte but on ; as intended as an echo of 24. 
Holy Writt seythe, 7>-<?j z'/V//V ^/ ««« 34. regrem] Cp. 1. 2, 15, 70; 

adoravit'' (Maundevile's Travaile 11. 19, 28. 4, 34. i, 18. 
p. 66, ed. Halliwell). 



248 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

simulque sanctum Spiritum 35 

in Trinitate Dominum, 

ut, quos redemit passio 
isto peracto tempore, 
possit sub ipso tempore 
seruare deprecatio. 40 

38 sto Vr. 

37 f. 'that our prayer may avail often meaning no more than hie; 

to keep us safe at this time whom cp. Aeth. Peregr. 11. j, placuit, ut... 

the Passion redeemed at that past per niediam uailetn ipsani...redire- 

time.' One is tempted to correct, w;<j; ib. xv. i requisiui de eo, quam 

with most editors, to peracta: but longe esset ipse locus. 
in these hymns peractus is always sub] *in,' a late usage, cp. Jerome 

used as an adj. meaning ' past,' cp. Epist. LXXVII. 10 sub una aestate, 

5. 9, 33. 16, 115. 14. and (on an inscription) teneris sub 

39 f. Cp. 84. 23 conserua nos in annis. 
tttnpore \ hostis a tela perfidi. 40. deprecatio] Cp. 19. 13 note. 

ipso] ' this present ' time, ipse The word is often so used in the 

lost much of its force in late Latin, Vulgate, e.g. Ps. vi. 10, xvi. i etc. 

Hymn 56 

This hymn, which in point of style and metre is well- 
nigh worthy of Ambrose himself, is prescribed by 
Caesarius and Aurelian for None in the Easter season 
(Blume Cursus pp. 36, 40). In Vat. reg. 1 1 the rubric is 
(erroneously) Hymnus ad iiesperuin in die ieiunii. On 
these last words Blume Analecta LI. p. 18 notes that, in 
view of the above appointment by the two bishops of 
Aries, the reference is to the fast on Wednesdays and 
Fridays in Eastertide, not to Lent ; see the note on line 29. 

['Easter,' however, was not defined in ancient times in 
the same manner as with us, and /;/ die ieiunii may have 
been intended for the day or days preceding Easter, 
which would agree with Caesarius' words iti die primo 
Paschae.'] 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN LVI 249 

Vapr 
Ter hora trina uoluitur, 
redire qua Christus solet 
mercede largus uineam 
locare mercenariis. 

decet paratos sistere, c 

ne transeat merces Dei, 
plantare quae uitem solet 
Christumque cordi adfigere. 

haec hora, quae resplenduit 

crucisque soluit nubila, 10 

mundum tenebris exuens, 

reddens serena tempora. 

haec hora, qua resuscitans 

lesus sepulcris corpora 

prodire mortis libera 15 

2 quia Vr. 3 mercedem Vap. uineae Vap. 9 qua Vr. 

10 om. que Vp. uincula Vr. 13 quae Vap. 

I. ter] to be taken with Irina, 5. sistere] 'to take our stand,' 

not with uoluitur. with a view to being hired. 

2 f . Mt. XX. I f, especially 5. 6. transeat] 'pass by us,' cp. 

redire . . . solet] ' comes once more. ' praetereat 61. 5 f . 
For this force of redire cp. 36. 38 ; 7. plantare] If a parable is 

and for the periphrasis with solet still in view, it seems to be that 

lines 7 and 30. For the common of the Vineyard, not that of the 

use in late Latin of such peri- Vine, in which case cordi affigere 

phrastic expressions see Lcifstedt will express plantare. Ambr. in 

Aeth. p. 207 f. Lttc. IX. 29 agricola quippe omni- 

3. mercede largnis] 'generous in potens pater, uitis est Christus. ..ut 
His payment': Mt. xx. 5, although uitis maritatur arboribus; Hex.w. 
at the ninth hour only three hours quid prodest ponereuitem...adiungere 
of work remain, the payment is still ulmis et quodam conubio copulare...? 
the same ; Ambr. Hex. 11. 10 Deus This attachment is the result of 
...intnensus in remuneratiotu. God's God's 'mercy' {quae solet). 
payment is His grace or 'mercy' 9 f . Mt. xxvii. 45. 

and in this sense we often find haec hora] ' this is the hour ' ; so 

merces used; see Leo's Fottunatus also in 13, and in 4. 9, of which 

p. 407. passage the writer is thinking. 

4. locare] 'in order to let out,' 12. serena] 'bright,' cp. 10. 2 
cp. Mt. xxi. 33 locauit earn agricolis. note. 

There appears to be a confusion i3f. Mt. xxvii. 52 ; cp. 1. 44. 

between this parable and that of the 15. mortis libera] 'free from 

Labourers in the Vineyard. death'; cp. Verg. Aen. x. 154 



250 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



iussit refuso spiritu. 

redit fauilla in sanguinem 
cinisque carnem reddidit, 
mixtique uiuis mortui 
uidere Christi gloriam. 

nouata saecla crederes, 
mortis solutis legibus, 
uitae beatae munere 
cursum perennem currere. 

dicamus ergo, proximi, 
laudes Deo cum cantico ; 
confessus est latro fidem 
in quo est redemptus tempore. 



20 



25 



16 refulso Vpi. 17 reddil Vp^. 
Vp. 28 om. in Vap. 

libera fati; Hor. Ars Poet. 112 
liber laborum. Usually liber takes 
an abl., as at 12. 26, 31. 63. 

16. spiritu] ' the breath of life.' 

1 7. ' The ashes turned to blood 
again.' faiiilla is 'the ashes' of a 
cremated body, as at Hor. Od. 11. 
vi. 23, hence the remains of a body 
that has been buried ; cp. Fort. ix. 
ii. 67 coeperit ut tegere arentes cutis 
uda fauillas \ et uiui cineres de 
tumulis salient. 

redIt is perfect. Like contracted 
forms are found : /V(Ter. Verg. Ov.), 
abit (Plant. Ter. Sen.). Cp. 37. 14, 
20. 

20. uidere] perfect. Blunie, who 
thought that in 21 all the MSS read 
credere, takes uidere, credere and 
currere in 24 as historic inf. But 
uidere as inf. after the indicative 
perfects redit and reddidit would be 
too abrupt. Possibly there is a re- 
ference to Joh. xi. 40. 

2 1 . crederes] ' you would think,' 
were you there to see, like Ambr.'s 
quis putet %. 13. For the tense cp. 
Prud. Cath. ix. cerneres coire mem- 
bra de fauillis aridis and several 



2 1 credere Vap. 24 perhenne 



examples quoted by Drager Hist. 
Synt. I. 282 f. 

nouata saecla] perhaps an echo 
of 12. 29. 

22. Cp. 49. 4. 

23. uitae beatae] Cp. 10. 16 and 
42. 44. 

24. currere has saecla for subject, 
cursum for object. 

25. proximi] 'neighbours,' as at 
16. 8. For the vocative thus used 
cp. 66. j, 82. r8. 

26. Cp. 66. 8. 

27. Cp. 10. 7. It is implied that 
we too are redeemed at this hour, 
and therefore ought to glorify God 
as the penitent robber did. 

28. in quo est, though not given 
in any MS, is better than quo est, 
for while elision occurs at lines 8 
and 17, no instance of hiatus comes 
in the hymn, in is thus used of 
time at 37. 13, 63. 5, 84. 23, 91. 3, 
101. 2. 

29 f. ' By this grace (the redemp- 
tion granted to the repentant robber, 
10. 22, and to us) we joyfully bring 
our fast to an end, a type of our 
future reward ; may those who are 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN LVII 251 

qua gratia ieiuniutn 

laeti solemus soluere 30 

instar futuri muneris : 

fatnem probati nesciant. 

approved not know (experience) nondum nana diem resignat hora' ; 

hunger.' Daniel (i. 4) notes: ueteres Epiphan. Expos. Fid. 22 Tfrpddi Si 

Christiani diebus stationuin ieimtare Kai ev Tr^ewa/SjSdTy iv vTiartlq. ?ws 

solebanl usque ad Nonam. See Prud. wpas iuvdrr/s. Cp. the introduction 

Ca(/i. vwi. ^L nona submissum rotat to this hymn. ««j/rtr is in apposition 

hora solem ; \ ...nos brents uoti dape with ieiutiium soluere. 
uindicata \ soluimus festum frtii- 32. probati] 'the elect,' cp. 1. 

murque mensis ; Perist. VI. 54 f. 30, 57. See Rev. vii. 16. 
' ieiunamus,^ ail, ' recuso potutn. \ 

Hymn 57 

Caesarius and Aurelian appoint this hymn for use at 
Vespers in alternation with 5 Deus creator omnium^ 
Aurelian's actual expression being ad lucernarium 
(Blume Cursus pp. 38, 43). And in Vat. reg. 1 1 hymn 5 
immediately follows our hymn with the rubric item 
hymnus uespertinus. 57 and 58 are so much alike that it 
is most likely that one poet wrote both. Neither of them 
passed into the later hymnal. 

Eo Fabi// Mx Vr 
Deus, qui certis legibus 
noctem discernis ac diem, 
ut fessa curis corpora 
somnus relaxet otic, 

te noctis inter horridae 5 

tempus precamur, ut, sopor 
mentem dum fessam detinet, 
fidei lux inluminet. 
2 a die F^. 3 cures Mx. 4 somno Vr, somnum Eo Fa^. relaxat 
Fab^. otium Mx. 7 retinet Fa. 

I f. The thought of this stan/a dwelt upon ; cp. 27. 3. 
often recurs ; see the introduction 8. For the combination of faith 

to 2. an^ light see 5. 20, 6. 32. 

5. The dread of night is often 



252 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



hostis ne fallax incitet 
lasciuis corda gaudiis, 
secreta noctis aduocans, 
blandos in aestus corporis. 

subrepat nuUus sensui 
horror timoris anxii ; 
inludat mentem ne uagam 
fallax imago uisuum. 

sed cum profundus uinxerit 
somnus curarum nescius, 
fides nequaquam dormiat, 
uigil te sensus somniet. 



lO 



IS 



20 



9 hoste Fa. 10 lasciuas F^. cura {^pro corda) Vr, curis Eo Fa^, 

curam Mx. ri secretam Mx. 12 blandus Eo Fa^ Mx Vr. 

aestu Fa. isto corpore Eo. 15 mente Fa. nee Vr. 16 uisui 

Eo Fa. 17 secundum profundum Fa. 18 nesciens Fa. 

19 fidem Fa. dormiet Fa^. 20 uigilue Eo, uigilque Mx. 



9 f. ' Let not our deceitful enemy, 
calling to his aid the privacy of 
night, stimulate our hearts with 
licentious pleasures to alluring pas- 
sions of the body.' The reading 
cura, which in some codices was 
changed into curis in consequence 
of the words on either side of it, 
bears no satisfactory sense. Blume 
reads crura, but gives no authority. 
I read corda, which would in one 
MS or another be written curda (as 
Vat. reg. 1 1 at line 6 of this hymn 
writes supor) and this would be 
corrupted into cura, a word occur- 
ring in one or other of its cases at 
lines 3 and 18. With incitel corda 
cp. 26. 20 agitas quieta corda. 

11. secreta noctis] Cp. 6. 26 
cordis alta. For the implied mean- 
ing cp. Eph. V. 12. 

aduocans] Cp. Sil. Punic, ix. 
81 ad conamina noctem \ aduocat ac 
furtim castris euadit inquis. 

12. As hostis already has its epi- 
thet (fallax), for blandus I read 



blandos; cp. 46. 14 blandis...aesti- 
bus. 

aestus corporis] ' bodily heats ' 
or ' passions ' ; cp. 5. 24, and for 
the gen. 10. i\poenam corporis. 

13. subrepat] as at 46. 11. 

14. ' dread torturing fear.' 
anxii] Cp. 6. 8 note. The allu- 
sion is to "evil dreams or nightmares 
sent by the devil, who was thought 
to have special sway by night. 

15. inludat] 103. 20. It seems 
here to refer to apparitions or 
'ghosts.' Cp. 83. 5, 6. 

mentem uagam] 61. 11. 

16. fallax] of that which speaks 
or looks real but is not : ' a decep- 
tive semblance of things seen.' 

X 7 f. an echo of 5. 17 f 

18. curartun] the cares of the 
past day, as in 3. 

19. Cp. 6. 21. 

20. Cp. 6. 26, 60. 5. sensus 
(like sensui above) means the spirit 
or inner consciousness. 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN LVHl 253 

Hymn 58 
The rubric in Vat. reg. 1 1, the one authority for 58, is 
item hymmis uespertinus : so it was in alternate use with 
57 and 5, which it immediately follows in this MS. It is 
not mentioned by Caesarius or Aurelian. 

Vr 

Sator princepsque temporum, 
clarum diem laboribus 
noctemque qui soporibus 
fixe distinguis ordine, 

mentem tu castam dirige, 5 

obscura ne silentia 
ad dira cordis uulnera 
talis patescant inuidi. 

somno non cedat spiritus, 

uigilque custos corporis 10 

metus inanes arceat, 

fallax depellat gaudium. 

uacent ardore pectora, 
faces nee uUas sentiant, 

3 laboribus Vr. 

I . sator] 44. I . cedai : ' may it refuse to yield ' ; 

5. mentem... castam] 3. 17. hence -^uenot sed in the next line. 

6 f. ' lest the dark silence (i.e. Yet -que can have an adversative 

lest we in the dark and silent night) force, even in Cic. de Off. i. 22 non 

be exposed to the darts of the nobis solum tiati sunius ortusque 

enemy, causing dread wounds of the uostri partem patria uind'uat. The 

heart.' Somewhat similar to this ' spirit ' watches over the body, 

use of the abstract silentia is Pro- l^. fallaz] as in 67. 9. 

pert. n. XX. 31 tunc inter Tityi 13. Cp. 17. 6, 67. 12. 

uolncres mea poena (i.e. I in my i4f. 'and may they feel no 

punishment) uagetnr. flames (of lust), lest these fastening 

7. uulnera] 19. 16. on the heart destroy the vigour of 

8. telis patescant] Eph. vi. 16, the soul.' 

45. 16 f., 84. 24. faces] Cp. Cic. Tusc. I. 44 cum 

inuidi] 3. 14, 6. 27 etc. corporis fcuibus inHammari soleamus 

9. non is to be taken closely with ad omnes fere cupiditates. 



254 EA RLY LA TIN H YMNS 

adfixae ne praecordiis 15 

mentis uigorem saucient. 
sed cum defessa corpora 
somni tenebunt gratiam, 
caro quietis sit memor, 

fides soporem nesciat. 20 

15 adfixa Vr. 19 solo {pro caro) Vr. 20 nesciant Vr. 

15. adfixae refers toya^^j.cp. 56. 8. which is meaningless. Blume cor- 
The MS reading adfixa can but agree rects to caro, comparing the com- 
with pectora, which gives no good pline hymn lesu redemptor saeculi 
sense. {Analecta LI. p. 43) 15 f. sic caro 

praecordiis] Cp. 45. 12 note. nostra dormiat, \ ut mens soporem 

16. saucient may be compared nesciat. [But if this conjecture be 
with uulnera in 7. The verb is used right, caro must be taken in a strictly 
again at 106. 11, saucius at 80. 6, ethical sense. Something is wanted 
86. 6. that would correspond to culpa in 

18. somnl... gratiam] Cp. 5. 4 5.22. Z>^/«j- would be a little nearer 
soporis gratia. the MS reading, or scelus.^ 

19. caro] Our one ms has solo, 

Hymn 59 
In Eo and Fa the rubric is ad uesperas dominicis and 
this was the use of the hymn. 

Eo Fasi/' Gb Vs 

Deus, qui claro lumine 

diem fecisti, Domine, 

tuam rogamus gloriam 

dum pronus uoluitur dies. 

iam sol urgente uespero 5 

occasum suum graditur, 

3 tua... gloria F^. 4 tu pronos soluitur Vs. 5 arguentes Vs. 

uespere Fa, uesperum Fi/'. 

3. * We pray to Thy glory,' i.e. pressing on, goes down his western 
we pray to Thee, O glorious one; slope.' Vesperus,moreusually known 
cp. the similar phrase 52. 2 f. pos- in the Greek form Hesperus, was 
camus...trinae uirttitis gloriam. the evening star. Rising after and 

4. pronus] ' on its downward following the sun, he ' presses him 
course,' being past the zenith. So on.' It may, however, simply mean 
Stat. Theb. 11. 41 prona dies, Hor. ' the evening.' For the rhythm cp. 
Od. III. xxviii. 5 inclinare meridiem 84. 9. 

sentis. 6. occasum is a kind of contained 

5. ' Now the sun, with Vesperus ace. after graditur; unless we take 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN LIX 255 



7 tenebras Fa. 
1 5 tecta Gb. 



mundum concludens tenebris, 
suum obseruans ordinem. 

sed tu, excelse Domine, 
precantes tuos famulos 
labore fessos diei 
quietos nox suscipiat ; 

, ut non fuscatis mentibus 
dies abscedat saeculi, 
sed tua tecti gratia 
cernamus lucem prosperam. 

1 1 laliores Eo Fa. Yessus Fa Vs. 
16 luce prospera Fa^ Gb. 



15 

1 2 quieta Vs. 



it as the ace. of the place to which, 
as Verg. Aen. vi. 696 haec limina 
/endere\ Fort. Vit. Mart. 111. 22.^ 
ire palatia, ' to go to the palace.' 
It might perhaps even be treated as 
the supine, in spite of the attached 
suum. 

7. The sun is said to shut the 
world in darkness by ceasing to 
shine, much as the wind is said to 
calm the waves by ceasing to blow 
(Soph. Aj. 674, Verg. Ed. Ii. 26 
etc.) or as a husband is said to 
make his wife a widow by ceasing 
to live, as in a Mozarabic hymn, 
Atial. XXVII. p. 67 quam in Jlore 
iuuentutis coniunx uiduauerat. 

8. Cp. 84. 17 f., Ps. ciii. (civ.) 19. 
9 f. ' And Thou, O most high 

Lord, may the night welcome into 
its quiet Thy servants who wearied 
with the day's toil now pray.' The 
emphatic tu is like the use of the 
word in several hymns, see the note 
on 1. 3. It is not necessary to make 
any change in the text. Grimm for 
tu suggests fac, but this is in any 
case not close enough to the Ms 
tradition ; Daniel reads tuju, which 
does not fit in here. Blume would 
supply suscipias from suscipiat in 
12, but grammar forbids this. If a 
change were needed, the simplest 
would be to read te governed by 



precantes, from which it is separated 
by two words, as at 57. 5 te is sepa- 
rated by four words from precamur. 

sed has little or no adversative 
force, as often in prayers, cp. 36. 37 
note, quietos is used proleptically 
= ut quieti sint. 

1 3 f. ' That this day (the natural 
day now almost gone) may not de- 
part leaving our souls darkened, but 
that we shielded by Thy grace may 
see a happy morrow.' Or, after 
the manner of these hymns, the lux 
pr. may mean the inward light 
which makes safe our passage 
through the night. 

fUscatis] ' darkened ' by sin, as 
our bodies are by the night. Cp. 
Symmachus Epist. I. 40 qtutn ad 
hoc aeui nulla actuum culpa /us- 
cauit; Sidonius VII. 505 quern 
fuscat id unum \ quod te Roma 
capit; Sedul. Op. V. 28 syfiagoga 
propria iam colore fuscata; Fort. 
VIII. iii. 109 fiaec sua membra pu- 
tans quae nulla iniuria fuscat. 

14. dies... saeculi] 13. 2. 

15. tecti] 'covered' as with a 
shield. 

16. prosperam] of temporal hap- 
piness, as nearly always ; cp. 80. 
12, 126. 7. So also our words 
' prosper,' ' prosperous.' 



2 56 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

Hymn 6o 

Caesarius of Aries writing in A.D. 534 says : ad duo- 
decimam [i.e. at Compline] hymniis Christe precamur 
adnue; die altera Christe qui hix es et dies dicatur. et sic 
omni tempore isti duo hymjti dicantur (Blume Cursus 
p. 36). The hymn is contained only in one MS Toled. 
Cod. 35-2 and in the printed Mozarabic breviary of 
1502, where it is appointed ad uesperas feria sexta infra 
hebdomadajn primam quadragesimae\ cp. Analecta xxvil. 
78. We have to bear in mind the possibility that the 
two hymns may not be the same ; for the Mozarabic 
church in at least one case took the first line of a hymn 
by Ambrose Deus creator omnium and made a hymn 
which had nothing of the original except this line, — see 
the introduction to 2. Or it may be that, just as the 
Ambrosian use took a stanza or two of the midnight 
hymn mediae noctis tempus est with the change of a word 
tibi matutino tempore etc. = 42. 45 f., so Caesarius took a 
stanza or two of 50, beginning at line 13. The stanzas 
of that hymn however are more suitable for the morning 
than for Compline. One would have expected him to 
make some mention of 50, which was one of the old 
series. But hymn 60 is certainly suited to Compline and 
is probably the one prescribed for such use by Caesarius, 

Mdx 

^ Christe, precamur adnue, 

mixtasque uoces fletibus 

semper benignus et pius 

uenturam noctem suscipe. 

4 in noct. Mx. 

I . adnue] lit. 'nod assent, ' hence id entical with 50. 13; cp. also 123. 1 3 . 

'regard with favour.' Verg. often 2. Cp. 20. 10 note. 

uses it of gods shewing favour, as at 3. Cp. 29. 39. 

/len. I. 250, IV. 128. The line is 4. uenturajn noctem] for the 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN LX 

te corda nostra somnient, 
te per soporem sentiant, 
tuamque semper gloriam 
uicina luce concinant. 

uitam salubrem tribue, 
nostrum calorem refice, 
taetram noctis caliginem 
claritas tua inluminet. 

hymnis uota persoluimus, 
uesperque sacrum poscimus 
nostrum delens chirographum 
tuumque praestans editum. 



257 
5 



15 



ace, 'during the night,' cp. 43. i, 
85. 10, 82. 9 septies diem. The 
printed Mozarabic breviary reads 
uenluram in noctem, which seems 
to be a correction. 

5. Cp. 5. 26. 

6. te. . .sentiaiit] ' be conscious of 
Thy presence.' 

7 f. ' and may they sing Thy 
eternal glory as day draws near.' 
For this adjectival use of the adverb 
semper cp. Plaut. Pers. 385 fion tu 
nuTK hominum mores uides ; Ter. 
Andr. 175 eri semper lenitas, wliich 
Wagner illustrates by the Greek t) 
ad eu/x^veia. The construction is 
here demanded by the order of the 
words and because semper taken as 
an adv. with concinant will clash 
with uicina luce. 

10. ' Renew the warmth of our 
faith ' ; the prayer corresponds to 
3. \() fides calore feruecU. 

12. claritas tua] 62b. 1,120.41. 

13 is an evening echo of a thought 
from Ambr.'s morning hymn, 2. 32. 
Cp. also 6. 1 1 f . 

14 f. 'and we pray for a holy 
evening that cancels .our bond etc' 
uesper is here neuter, like uespere at 
18. 5, and delens, praestans agree 
with it. An objection to this render- 
ing is that our evening, however 



holy, cannot 'cancel the bond' in 
view of Col. ii. 14, of which passage 
the writer is thinking. It may be 
that, in the havoc of cases indicated 
in 4, delens and praestans are a kind 
of vocative, implied by poscimus, — 
as if, instead of poscimus, or in 
addition to it, the writer had said 
da or some such word, delens and 
praestans would agree with the 
subject of such an imperative. The 
thought is like that of 18. 5 f. largire 
clarum uespere etc. 

ijf. 'Blotting out the hand- 
writing that was against us (or 
' our bond ') and giving us what 
thou hast declared (or 'published') 
in the gospel,' — probably meaning 
the donans omnia delicta of Col. ii. 
13. editum must be taken as a sub- 
stantive, and tuum editum is con- 
trasted with tiostrum chirographum. 
We cannot give a parallel use of 
editum, but edere is a word used in 
legal and civil Latin for ' publishing,' 
' announcing,' ' making known." We 
find it in Dirksen used in juxta- 
position with chir. (s.v. chirogr.) 
moram facere in chirographo securi- 
tails edendo (apparently 'in declaring 
the contents of the bond of assur- 
ance '). 

cbirograpbum {\iiph^pa<i>ov) 'a 



258 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

signed bond,' cp. Ambr. de Tob. 33 uit, quod postea Dominus suo cruore 

quis isle faeneralor nisi diaboliis, a deleuit. Aug. often refers to Col. ii. 

quo Eua mutuata peccatum obtioxiae 14, cp. Conf. V. 17, VII. 27, IX. 36. 

successionis usuris omne genus defae- So Paulin. Aquil. vi. 14 chirogra- 

nerauit humanum? denique quasi phum \ mortis cruore diiuit rosifiuo. 
malus faenerator chlrographum ten- 



Hymn 6i 

This fine old hymn was originally set for Compline on 
alternate days throughout the year, as is shewn by the 
united evidence of the Rule of Caesarius, quoted in the 
introduction to 60, and of all the older MSS. In the 
course of time however, when a rival appeared in the Te 
liicis ante terminutn, hymn 83, its use was in one way or 
other restricted. Thus in the Mozarabic breviary it was 
reserved for Compline on Sunday (see Analecta XXVII. 
p. Ill), in the later Ambrosian breviary for the same 
office during the first two weeks of Lent, while the rubric 
of Paris lat. 1 1550 runs ad completorium in hieme. Its 
later use was very varied. Chevalier, under No. 2934, 
gives it thus Quadragesima {fer., /est., qicot. ; Passio ; 
Adiient. ; dotnin. etfest.) always of course at Compline. 

The mention of it by Caesarius proves that it was 
already written in the early part of the Vlth century, so 
that Mone (I, 92) and Chevalier (1. c), who say that it 
was not composed before the Vllth century, date it at 
least a hundred years too late. 

The text has, in the various authorities which contain 
it, suffered many changes ; some of the stanzas have 
been rewritten. It is therefore not easy to say in some 
lines what the original words were. 

The hymn was contained in the French breviaries 
until the end of the XVI Ith century, but it was not 
adopted in the modern Roman use. 



EARLIER HYMNAL. HYMN LXI 259 

Abcdgh EacdghjlosvxT?^^ Fbdhiklnprstu^ Gd Hbcdefh 
Ibcdefghmnopv Mackmx Vacps 

Christe, qui lux es et dies, 

noctis tenebras detegis, 

lucifer lucem praeferens, 

lumen beatum praedicans, 

precamur, sancte Domine, 5 

defende nos in hac nocte, 

sit nobis in te requies, 

quietatn noctem tribue. 

ne grauis somnus inruat, 

nee hostis nos subripiat ; 10 

ne caro illi consentiens 

nos tibi reos statuat. 

oculi somnum capiant, 

cor ad te semper uigilet, 

2 detegens Ab HcM* Id Vap, deteges F^, detege £s Hh Mak^x. 3 lux 
ipse lucem proferens Hh Mk (lumen Max), lux ipse lucis crederis Es, 
lucisque lumen crederis Eacdglv Fbdiknrtu^ Hbcdef Ibc^hmnopv Mm Vc. 
4 beatis Eo, uitam beatam praed. Max, uitam beatam tribue Acdgh Hh 
Vap. 6 nocte ac die Eo Fb^ (nos n. a. d. Hh). 7 uite ( = uitae)/rfl 
in te Ex lb. 8 retribue Vc, tribuas Fs''. 9 graui Ab- Fi leo Mm 

Vap. somnu ( = somno) Ab^. 10 ne Acdh Gd Hbd'h Ic Vap. hostis 

ne E<^. 1 1 nee Eacov Gd Hcde Icd'hm Mamx. om. ne E^ Mk. 

om. caro Eo. consentiat Ad FbV lo Vap. n et ne nos reos Acdh, 

et nos reos Vap. 14 semper ad te Eco Gd. uigilat E^ Gd. 

1. Cp. 3. 2 f., 48. 10, 46. 2. 4. 'proclaiming the light of 

2. detegis] ' removest ' the pall of bliss,' cp. 16. 12 lucem beatam. 
darkness. As a rule rf'^/^'.f^r^ has the Praed. seems to mean that Christ 
further sense of * revealing ' that in His gospel tells us that this light 
which is hidden beneath. awaits us hereafter. 

3. lucifer] Cp. 44. 15, 46. 5. 9. grauis is emphatic, to be 
Mone I. 92 seeing a reference to taken with inruat as part of the 
Ps. cix. (ex.) 3 ante Ituiferum predicate. 

genui te, conjectures luciferum lux 10. subripiat] Cp. Joh. x. 10, 

praeiens. He objects that liuem i Pet. v. 8. _ _ 

/ra^>mw is tautological after /««■- 11. illi consentiens] 'conspiring 

fer ; but the hymn writer is thinking with him.' consentio is a Bible word, 

of the personified Morning Star, not cp. 2 Thess. ii. 12 comenserunt in- 

of the etymological meaning of the iquitati. illi is contrasted with ttbi 

word. in 12. 

praeferens] lit. 'holding in front,' 14- See Cant. v. 2. Cp. 36. 27 

i.e. displaying, cp. 13. 4, 94. 6. and often. 

17—3 



26o EARLY LA TIN H YMNS 

dextera tua protegat 1 5 

famulos qui te diligunt. 

defensor noster adspice, 

insidiantes reprime, 

guberna tuos famulos, 

quos sanguine mercatus es. 20 

memento nostri, Domine, 
in isto graui corpore, 
qui es defensor animae, 
adesto nobis, Domine. 

18 insidiantem Ac Es/*0 Im'n'o'v Makx Vap. 20 quo Vp. 

22 graui isto Ev (gr. isti Fs). 23 tu {j>ro qui) E^. 24 sancte 

spiritus (pro nobis d.) Hh Vap. 

15. The right hand (i.e. the may be the original. We may be 

power) of Christ is referred to at called ' the sons of Christ ' (unusual 

71. 5. The expression is of course as the thought is) in somewhat the 

frequent in the Psalms. same sense as St Paul calls his con- 

17. From Ps. Ixxxiii. 10 protector verts at Ephesus etc. 'the sons of 
noster aspice Deus. light.' So Sedul. Carm. iv. 181 (of 

18. insidiantes] ' treacherous Christ) non tulit hattc speciem mundi 
foes.' The variant insidiantem pater. 

would refer to Satan ; but the 20. Acts xx. 28, Ps. Ixxiii. 2. 

special prayer for deliverance from 22. 'under the burden of this 

him has already been made in body.' The reference is to Wisd. ix. 

line 10. 15, cp. 2 Cor. v. 4. Mone compares 

19. famulos may have come in Greg. Mor. xii. 17 grauis est sar- 
from line 16, and the variant y?/«V7j cina corruptionis. 



THE LATER HYMNAL 

NocTURN Hymns 62-69 

We now come to the later series of hymns ; see the 
Introduction at the beginning of the book. The Nocturn 
hymns 62 fif. were probably at first all iambic dimeters 
of the Ambrosian type, until the Sapphic hymn 63 was 
introduced : see the Introduction to that hymn. 

Hitherto 62a and 62b have been regarded as making 
but one hymn, consisting of eight stanzas. The argu- 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LXII 261 

ments in favour of dividing them into two separate 
hymns by different writers are manifold and weighty. 

In subject-matter they are quite unhke. As Blume 
Analecta LI. p. 26 notes, 62a addresses the singers, 62b 
addresses Christ. In metre they are also quite unlike. 
62 a is metrical and correct with one exception — the 
hiatus in line i ; but this fault coming in the third foot 
is less serious than elsew^here. 62b is rhythmical and, 
besides the spondaic second foot in 16, has no less than 
six instances of hiatus, three of them in the second foot 
of the verse. Not one of the other hymns of this later 
nocturn series contains eight stanzas, each having but 
four ; except 63, the unlikeness of which to the rest pro- 
claims it as a later intruder, and 68, which now consists 
of five stanzas. 

It seems likely that 62 b was ousted from its indepen- 
dent standing by the new-comer 63, and yet kept its 
place in the series by being tacked on to 62a. Iain nunc 
is a favourite phrase with which to begin a hymn. 
Chevalier Repertorium 6326-6343, 28431-28435 refers 
to more than twenty first lines with this commencement. 
The Parisian breviary of 1680 contained only 62 a, and 
Archbishop Harlay was at the time and afterwards 
severely criticized for the omission of 62 b. Evidently he 
thought that the two hymns were independent and dis- 
tinct. The blending of them into one whole took place, 
however, before the writing of any of our MSS of the later 
hymnal : the earliest of these was not made before the 
IXth century, whereas the hymns are more ancient, 
whoever may have been the authors. 

The original use of 62 (a and b) as given in the MSS 
was at nocturns on Sundays during the winter. The 
modern Roman breviary has retained the hymn with 
comparatively few corrections, see Daniel I. p. 175 f. 



262 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



Hymn 62 a 

Eacdhjlsvxij/i^ Fdhijls Gam Habcdefghi Ibefhmnop Mafkm Vbcs 

Primo dierum omnium, 
quo mundus exstat conditus, 
. uel quo resurgens conditor 
nos morte uicta liberal : 

pulsis procul torporibus 
surgamus omnes ocius 
et nocte quaeramus pium, — 
sicut prophetam nouimus, — 

nostras preces ut audiat, 
suamque dextram porrigat, 

4 libera Ip, liberans Es Mk, liberet Ecdhlm/i(/) Fins Hbce Mm In. 



I f. The writer may well be 
thinking of Sedul. Carm. V. 315 f. 
coeperat interea post tristia sabbata 
felix I inradiare dies, culnien qui 
nominis alti \ a Domino dominante 
trahit primusque uidere \ promeruit 
nasci tmtmium atque resurgere 
Christum. \ septima nam Genesis 
cum dicit sabbata, claret \ hiinc orbis 
caput esse diem, quern gloria regis 
nutic etiam proprii donans fulgore 
tropaei \ primattiin retinere dedit. 
Mone I. 371 quotes Greg. Magn. 
Horn, in Ezech. II. iv. 1 dies domi- 
nicus, qui tertius est a morte domi- 
nica, a conditione dierum nunieratus 
octatius, quia septimum sequitur; 
ib. II. viii. 1 in nouo testamento 
oclauus dies in sacramento est, is 
uidelicet qui dominicus appellatur 
qui . . .octauus a conditione est. The 
meaning of the stanza is that Sunday 
was the first day on which ' the 
world stood forth created ' (exstat 
conditus). The modern Roman 
breviary reads primo die quo Trini- 
tas I beata mundum condidit, which 



must mean that God created the 
world on the first day, which is a 
different thing, and quite in accord- 
ance with Genesis. See also 110. 9 
octaua prima redditur ; Blume 
Analecta li. p. 26. 

3. uel] 'and,' 37. 6 note. This 
use is very frequent in the Regula 
S. Betiedicti; see the Index to 
Butler's edition. 

4. I Cor. XV. 54 f. 

5. torporibus] 'sloth,' the plural 
perhaps indicating its repeated at- 
tacks. 

6. Cp. 2. 17. 

7. plum] ' our gracious God ' ; 
cp. 9. 4 note. 

8. ' as we know the prophet ' to 
have sought God by night. The 
prophet is the psalmist, as at 41. 2 
note. See Ps. cxviii. (cxix.) 55, 62, 
cxxxiii. (cxxxiv.) 2. Or possibly the 
reference may be to Is. xxvi. 9. 

10. Cp. Job xiv. 15 (Vulg.) ; 
Aug. Solil. VI exaudi vie palpitan- 
tem in his tenebris et viihi dexteram 
porrige. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LXUb 263 

et hie piatos sordibus 
reddat polorum sedibus, 

ut quique sacratissimo 

huius diei tempore 

horis quietis psallimus, 15 

donis beatis muneret. 

ri ut Ecl/x Mk. expiatos [^pro hie p.) omnes preuter Es Fdn Mk Vb. 
13 quicquid He. 

11. 'purified here' (i.e. on earth); 
op. 26. 7 expiatur (note). 

12. polorum] 'of heaven,' cp. 
6. 1. 

1 3 f. ' that all we, who in this 
day's most sacred season sing in the 
hours of quiet, may be rewarded 
with blessed gifts.' quiqne = qiiicunt- 
que, a common usage in late Latin, 
but found also in Plaut. Miles i6o 
quemque in tegulis \ uiderilis alie- 
num ; cp. 69. 13, Draeger II. p. 



loi, Ronsch p. 336. huius diei 
tempore is used as one compound 
word and therefore sacratissimo is 
in the abl. So 46. 5 proximo diet 
adttentui, 50. 1 1 noctis ortus suc- 
ccdens, ii). 1 5 iniquitas haec saeculi, 
71. 15 omnique fine diei. This last 
stanza of the hymn is similar to the 
last stanza of 69. 

16. donis beatis] Cp. 42. 40 
uitae munera. 

muneret] Cp. 42. 60. 



Hymn 62 b 

Eacdhjlsvx7j/A0 Fdhijls Gam Habcdefghi Ibefhmnop Mafkm Vbcs 

lam nunc, paterna claritas, 
te postulamus affatim, 
absit libido sordidans 
omnisque actus noxius. 

ne foeda sit uel lubrica 
conpago huius corporis, 

5 nee Ecd. ut ^pro uel) Es Mm. 



1. paterna claritas] Claritas is 
a synonym of gloria especially in 
African Latin : pat. cl. therefore 
means 'glory of the Father ' = glori- 
ous Father ; or perhaps Christ, as 
being ' the glory of the Father.' 

2. affatim] i.e. ad fatim, 'to 
satiety,' and hence 'incessantly,' 
'urgently,' as at 69. 16, 92. 22. falim 
is the ace. of a disused substantive 



fatis, with which Q.^.fati-sco,faii-go. 

3. sordidans] Cp. Lactam, de 
Ira Dei {ad fin.) templum cordis 
non fiimo, non pului-re, sed malts 
cogitation ilnis sordidatur. 

4. noxius] 'guilty,' as at 1. 39; 
cp. the note on 22. 12 noxa. 

5. lubrica] 3. 12 note. 

6. conpago] lit. 'the fastening 
together ' ; i.e. our body so mar- 



264 EARLY LA TIN H YMNS 

per quam auerni ignibus 

ipsi crememur acrius. 

ob hoc, redemptor, quaesumus 

ut probra nostra diluas, 10 

uitae perennis commoda 

nobis benignus conferas. 

quo carnis actu exsules, 

effecti ipsi caelibes, 

ut praestolamur cernui, 15 

melos canamus gloriae. 

7 quod Ex^ Fs Ih, quem Ehs Ip Mk Vc, que (=quae) Eav/t Fhin Mm. 
10 deluas Ecdhl/i Fh In Vc. 12 benigne Ea/t Fh Vc. 15 praesto- 

lantes Es Mk (ras.). 

vellously knit together. Cp. Souter both our souls and bodies, con- 

Study of Ambrosiaster p. 105 A cor- trasted with conpago, of our bodies 

poris vianetite compagine. alone. 

7. ■per q\iaiai\\.G. foedam et lubri- 9. Cp. 68. 17. 

cam conpaginem. ob hoc] i.e. because we shall so 

Avemus was a lake near Cumae suffer, if we allow ourselves to be 

in south Italy, the deadly exhala- foedi itel Itibrici. 

tions from which were said to kill 10. probra] 'shameful sins,' es- 

birds that flew over it, cp. Lucr. vi. pecially those of an unclean life; cp. 

740 f., Verg. Aen. vi. 137 f., Sil. the adj./r<>3wj-?/j at 10. 4, 46. 25. 

Ital. XII. 120 f. ilk, olivi populis 11. uitae perennis] 16. 20. 

dictum Styga, nomine uerso \ stagna 13. 'in order that being absent 

inter celebrem nunc mitia monstrat from the activity of the flesh.' This 

Auemum ; \ turn tristi nemore atqtic freeing is contemporaneous with the 

umbris nigrantibus horrens \ etfor- becoming ' as the angels of God in 

midatus uolticri letale uomebal \ suf- heaven ' (effecti ccuL). Not unlike is 

fuso uitus caelo. From it there was the use of exsul at 73. 10. Pimont 

thought to be a descent into hell, j)refers to translate : ' that being 

and hence it became a name for now exiles by the action of the 

hell, adopted also by Christian flesh, (but hereafter) made....' This 

writers. Eustace Classical Tour does not seem so simple. 

Mr<?M^/4 //a/j/ I. p. 534 says of Aver- 14. caelibes] lit. 'unwedded,' 

nus that it is now 'a scene on the comes from Mt. xxii. 30, cp. 86. 16. 

whole light, airy and exhilarating.' ipsi as in 8, distinguished from our 

8. ipsi] ' we ourselves,' including caro. 

Hymn 63 

63 is so unlike the hymns on either side of it, especially 

in its metre and in the number of its stanzas, that we 

cannot but look upontit as a late-comer into the series. 

And, when we consider the determination and zeal with 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LX I II 265 

which Charlemagne forced these Roman hymns upon 
the churches throughout his empire, we are tempted to 
conjecture that the poet of 63 and of 70 may have been 
one of those scholars who gathered round him. After 
the Caroline reformation of letters a hymn like 62b with 
its many metrical faults would not be looked upon with 
a favourable eye, and hymn 63 was apparently written 
to take its place, — with but partial success, for 62 b sur- 
vived as a part of 62 a. However 63 won and kept its place 
as the nocturn hymn on Sundays during the summer. 
Was Alcuin himself the writer of 63 and 70? He wrote 
a few Sapphics, — these not unlike our hymn. Cp. the first 
stanza of 63 with the tenth of Ale. CXXI which runs: 
te Deum semper uigilans requirat, cogitet cunctis resoluta 
curis, actibus cunctis queat ut placere rex tibi summe. 
With the use of pio in 5 cp. Ale. I.e. 2 tu pius nostris 
precibus faiceto, 49 quod pius totuin habitet per aeuutn ; 
with aula in 6 cp. Ale. LV. v. 3 hac in aula, LXXXIX. 35 
praemia digna retinet honore regis in aula ; with pariter 
in 5 and 10 Ale. p. 313 (ed. Diimmler) 39 Spiritus sancti 
pariter ; with rutilans in 70. 2 cp. lumen rutilumy rutilo 
...colore Ale. CXI v. vi. 3, rutilet nitore CXXI. 31. 

Eacdghjlsvxi7M(^ Fdehijlpqs Habcdef^^ Ibefghimno Mm Vbcs 

Nocte surgentes uigilemus omnes, 
semper in psalmis meditemur, atque 
uiribus totis Domino canamus 

dulciter hymnos, 
ut pio regi pariter canentes S 

I f. This stanza is imitated in a tabar in tnandati's tuts. 

Mozarabic hymn, Analecta xxvii. 3. uiribus totls] from Lk. x. 27. 

xviii. 33 f. cor enim nostrum uigilet totis stands for omnibus as at 12. 27. 

sopore, I somniet Christum Domi- 5. pariter qualifies both canentes 

numque nostrum,] insonet psalmis, and mereamur. It means ' to- 

7neditetur hymnis \ nocte dieque. gether. ' 

2. Cp. Ps. cxviii. (cxix.) 47 medi- 



266 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

cum suis Sanctis mereamur aulam 
ingredi caeli, simul et beatam 
ducere uitam. 

praestet hoc nobis Deltas beata 
Patris ac Nati pariterque sancti lo 

Spiritus, cuius reboatur omni 
gloria mundo. 

7 ac Ej, ad Eh. lo et Eacdhjsv HabdjS. ii cui H^. reboat in 

Eacdglv le Vc, reboat per -era -um Fe, reboamus H/3, renouatur Hb. 

6. cum suis Sanctis] Cp. Te 9. Deitas] Cp. 36. 28, 98. 18. 

Deutmx. j«w may perhaps be used 10. pariter] 'no less,' for the 

because ' our gracious king ' is vir- holy Spirit also is God. 

tually the subject of the stanza. But 11. cuius refers back to Deitas. 

in late Latin suus was indiscrimi- reboatur] ' resounds.' reboare, a 

nately written for 'his,' 'her,' etc., rare and poetical word, is transitive 

becoming at last the French son, as at 70. 11, 92. 17. The variant 

the Italian suo. reboat could also stand, being used 

mereamur] Cp. 4. 8 note. intransitively, as at Lucr. II. 28, 

aulam] Cp. 15. 7. Verg. Georg. in. 223. 



Hymn 64 

The universal use of this hymn has been ad nocturnas 
feria II, i.e. on Mondays. It has been ascribed to 
St Ambrose, chiefly on the authority of Hincmar de 
non Trina D'eitate p. 548. Hincmar's date prevents him 
from being a trustworthy witness on such a point. It will 
be noticed that rhyme is carried almost throughout, 
whereas Ambrose neither chooses nor avoids rhyme. 
Pimont I. p. 132 f. argues strongly for Ambrose's author- 
ship, alleging that its characteristics prove it : 'pens^es 
graves et nobles sous un tour bref et nettement tranche ; 
diction pure et ferme dans un vers toujours correct ' etc. 
He adds that the resemblance to parts of 5 is so striking 
that both hymns must be written by the same writer. 
But the fact that the hymn is not in the Ambrosian 
tradition means that it was not Ambrose's. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LXIV 267 

Eacdghjlsvxi;M0 Fbdghiklnpsy Ga Habcdefgi Ibcefghmnopv Mafkmx Vbc 

Spmno refectis artubus 
spreto cubili surgimus : 
nobis, Pater, canentibus 
adesse te deposcimus. 

te lingua primum concinat, 5 

te mentis ardor ambiat, 
ut actuum sequentium 
tu, sancte, sis exordium. 

cedant tenebrae lumini 

et nox diurno sideri, 10 

ut culpa, quam nox intulit, 

lucis labascat munere. 

precamur idem supplices 
noxas ut omnes amputes, 

5 concinant Ej Ic Mk, concinnat Impi. 6 ambigat Haf Ih. 

7 artuum Ih, ad tuura Ev. 8 te Fh. 9 cedent Ic. 1 1 culpam Fb. 
12 lahescat Ecglsv Fbhinpsy Ilabd-e Ibgimpv Mkm Vb. 

2. Cp. Prud. Cath. I. g post solis mira libertas uiri \ ambire Christum 
ortum fulgidi \ serum est cubile sper- suaserat. 

nere. 7. sequentium] i.e. during the 

3. Hincmar of Reims (see Daniel day about to begin. 

IV. p. 37) gives the line thus : «^j/rw 8. exordium] 'starting point.' 

Pater coniuntibus. But this is found Cp. the well-known collect ut cuncta 

in no MS of the hymn and is an in- nostra operatic... a te...incipiat. 

exact quotation. 9. cedant] optative : the dark- 

4. deposcimus] ' pray earnestly.' ness and light are spiritual. For the 
Verbs of entreating are usually fol- contrast cp. Eph. v. 8 eratis ali- 
lowed by ut with the subj., but cp. quando tenebrae, nunc autem lux in 
Fort. VI. V. 33 retineri filia poscens. Doniitio. 

5. primum] ' first on waking,' 10. diurno sideri] the sun, here 
cp. 2. 31. the sun of righteousne.ss, cp. 21. 8 

6. mentis ardor] i.e. the soul note. 

warmed with fire from on high. 12. munere] 'office,' ' working.' 

ardor is used in a good sense, as at 13. idem] nom. plu., so spelt in 

16. 8. all the older mss ; it is a way of 

ambiat] 'solicit.' ambire usually expressing 'also.' 
meant ' to go round ' canvassing for 14. nozaa] 'sins,' cp. 22. n note. 

votes (hence ' amljition '), but also amputes] strictly ' prune away,' 

'to solicit' or 'pray to' a higher cp. Cic. de Sen. 52 uitis...quam... 

power. Cp. Hor. Od. I. xxxv. 5 te ferro amputans cnercet ars agrico- 

pauper ambit sollicita prece \ ruris larum ; Ps. cxviii. (cxix.) 39 amputa 

colonus ; Prud. Perist. II. 491 quos opprobrium meum ; Ambr. in Luc. 



268 EARLY LA TIN H YMNS 

et ore te canentium i$ 

lauderis in perpetuum. 

15 ut Ej Mm. ora Ip Mk {ras.). 16 imperp. Hcdf. 

V. 18 medicamento quod . . xausam amputatione. The line is based on 
diri uulneris ampuiatiit; Arnob. VwxA. Perist.x. •^donoxas nee onrnes 
adu. Nat. I. 27 delictorum omnium imputet. 

Hymn 65 
The use of this hymn was ad nocturnas feria tertia i.e. 
on Tuesdays. It has often been assigned to St Ambrose, 
and is in many ways worthy of him, but its absence from 
the Ambrosian MSS is fatal to this claim. In the Roman 
Breviary it is adopted without any change. The doxology 
is so insistently contained in all MSS, that I have printed 
it as an integral part of the hymn. 

Eacdhjsvxij/u^ Ehklpqs Gam Hacdefgh Ibcdefghmnopv Mafkx Vbc 

Censors paterni luminis, 
lux ipse lucis et dies, 
noctem canendo rumpimus ; 
adsiste postulantibus. 

aufer tenebras mentium, 5 

fuga cateruas daemonum, 
expelle somnolentiam, 
ne pigritantes obruat. 

2 lucis ipse Ec. 3 rupimus Es Mk. 

I. consors] Cp. Dracont. de Deo Varro de Re Rust. I. ii. 5 diffindere 

II. 68 et consors cum Patre manens ; insiticio somno aestiuom diem. 

ib. 547 dexter in arce sedens consors 4. adsiste] lit. ' stand by,' i.e. to 

Genitoris amcUus. For the sense of hear with favour, like adesse, cp. 42. 

the line cp. 3. i. 56, and the prayer in our communion 

1 is almost identical with 45. 10, office: 'assist us mercifully, O Lord, 

46. 2 ; cp. 3. 3 f. in these our supplications and 

3. nunpimus] ' internipt, break prayers.' 

in upon ' ; cp. Verg. Aen. vii. 458 6. cateruas] as at 26. 24. 

somnumingensnimpitpauor \Yt\xA. 8. pignritantes] 'lingering'; cp. 

CcUh. I. 98 ( = 20. 1 4) tu rumpe Acisix. 2^ ne pigriteris uenire usque 

noctis uincula; 66. 8, 69. 14. So ad nos. 
Hor. Od. II. vii. 7 diem mero/regi'. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LXVI 269 

sic, Christe, nobis omnibus 

indulgeas credentibus, to 

ut prosit exorantibus 

quod praecinentes psallimus. 

praesta, Pater piissime, 

Patrique compar unice, 

cum Spiritu Paraclito 15 

regnans per omne saeculum. 

9 hie E/i. 

9. sic is answered by ut in ii. added, — it is impossible for us now 

11. ezorantibus] 'praying ear- to say when, but it was before any 
nestly,' not, as it usually means, of our MSS were written, for it is 
'gaining our requests.' contained in all, — in order to bring 

12. praecinentes] 'singing be- up the number of stanzas to the 
fore Thee,' prae- here having a usual four. One is tempted to ask 
local force ; contrast the temporal whether the fifth stanza of 68, 
use in 20. 2, 38. 5. quod psallimus which breaks the symmetry of the 
is the subject of prosit ' that our many four-stanza hymns, originally 
singing may avail for our good.' belonged here. But the materials 

i3f. This formal doxology, the for giving a definite answer are 
only one in the series, was probably lacking. 

Hymn 66 

The use of this hymn was ad noctumas feria quarta 
i.e. on Wednesdays. This hymn also has often been 
ascribed to St Ambrose, often to St Gregory: in each 
case by guesswork. Mone rightly I. p. 377 disallows the 
Ambrosian authorship on account of the rhyme running 
throughout. 

Eacdhjlsvxi/u^ Fhlpqsy^ Gam Hacde%hi Ibcdefghimnopv Mafk Vbc 

Rerum creator optima 
rectorque noster, respice, 
nos a quiete noxia 
mersos sopore libera. 
-J aspice (adsp.) Esx Fp-y^ Hgh leiv'. 4 merso Gm Id'hv Mk. 

I. Cp. 6. I, 48. I, 73. 1. as at 2. 25 etc. 

1. respice] ' regard with favour,' 3. noxia] ' smful, cp. 62 b. 4. . 



270 EARLY LATIN HYMNS . 

te, sancte Christe, poscimus, ' 5 

: ignosce tu criminibus ; 

ad confitendum surgimus 

morasque nostras rumpimus. 

mentes manusque tollimus, 

propheta sicut noctibus 10 

nobis gerendum praecipit, 

Paulusque gestis censuit. 

uides malum quod gessimus, 

occulta nostra pandimus, 

preces gementes fundimus, 15 

dimitte quod peccauimus. 
8 rupimus Mk. 10 sic in Mk. 11 praecepit Ha. 16 deliquimus Vb. 

7. It is not easy to say, here and omne supplicium ipse habitus orantis 
at 67. 3, 82. 15, whether conjiteor Christiani, quasi diceret orans : 
denotes declaring God's praise (cp. praesto sum, necte e( plecte si uis 
16. 6, 56. 27) or confessing our sins. aut eerie miserere ; Prud. Cath. IV. 
The two examples given in the next 52 cum tenderet ad superna palmas. 
stanza seem to point to the former. The hands so raised would make 

8. ' and we bring our delay to an the form of the Cross, Prud. Perist. 
end.' Cp. Verg. Georg. ill. 43 and vi. 106 non ausa est cohibere poena 
often; Paul. Nol. Carm. xiv. 51 palmas \ in morem crucis ad Patrem 
uotis auidis mora noctis ruHipitur; leuandas. 

Fort. Vit. Mart. i. 314; 20. 14, 65. 10. propheta] the psalmist, as at 

3, 69. 13 f. 41. 2. 

9. Ps. cxxxiii. (cxxxiv.) 2 /« /w<:- 12. censuit] '■ shoived his ap- 
tibus extollite manus uestras in proval ' ; cp. Acts xvi. 25. 
sancta. Cp. Lam. iii. 41. The an- 13. quod gessimus] For this use 
cients prayed with hands uplifted of gerere cp. Deut. ix. 18 peccata 
and upturned (cp. Verg. Aen. i. 93 uestra quae gessistis. For the sense 
duplices temiens ad sidera palmas ; of the line cp. 94. 29. 

III. 176 tendoque supinas \ ad cae- 14. occulta nostra hie dicuntur pec- 

lum cum uoce manus") ; including the cata, quae clam hominibus aut cogi- 

early Christians, cp. i Tim. ii. tando aut semotis arbitris mali quip- 

8 wpoffevxeadai ... ijraipovTai oalovs piam agendo committimus (Clicht.) ; 

Xeipas ; Tertull. Apol. XXX (where cp. 48. 4. 
see Mayor's note) paratus est ad 15. gementes] 20. 10 note. 

Hymn 67 

This hymn was appointed for nocturns on Thursdays. 
Like the preceding hymns this is ascribed to Ambrose 
or Gregory by guesswork. It is retained unchanged in 
the modern Roman breviary. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LXVII 271 

Eacdhjsvxij/*^ Fhlqs Gam Hacdefghi Ibcdefghmnopv Mm Vbc 

Nox atra rerum contegit 
terrae colores omnium ; 
nos confitentes poscimus 
te, iuste iudex cordium, 

ut auferas piacula, 5 

sordesque mentis abluas, 
donesque, Christe, gratiam, 
ut arceantur crimina. 

mens ecce torpet impia, 

quam culpa mordet noxia ; 10 

obscura gestit tollere 

et te, redemptor, quaerere. 

repelle tu caliginem 

intrinsecus quam maxime, 

ut in beato gaudeat 15 

se coUocari lumine. 

I content Ec. 2 calores Ech Ip. 15, 16 praemtttit Gm uersilnts 

13, 14. 14 que {pro quam) He 15 gaudeant Es. i6 collo- 

care He. 

if.] Cp. 21. 7 note. 58. 11. 

contegit] ' covers ' with the sub- 9, 10 refer to the present state of 

stantial pall of darkness. the soul, 11, 12 to its state after 

2. terrae is gen. rather than dat., Christ has given His grace, 

which it would probably be in a 11. obscura] 22. 8 ; opera tette- 

classical poet, — ' of all ihe things of braricm, sine peccata, says Clicht. 

earth.' gestit] ' is eager,' 31. 19 note. 

4. iustus iudex comes at Ps. vii. 14. intrinsecus taken in conjunc- 
12, 2 Mac. xii. 5 (cp. Ps. vii. 10). tion with caliginem gets the force 
For the general sense of the line of an adj., 'inner'; cp. 60. 7 note, 
cp. 22. 13 f. The line ends with a literary bathos. 

5. piacula] usually 'sin offer- r?. beato... lumine] 61. 4. 
ings,' cp. 25. 7 note; but here the gaudeat] sc. »»^«j^, to be supplied 
' sins ' themselves ; cp. Verg. Aen. from line 9. 

VI. 569 commissa piacula, Jud. xx. 16. The subject of the dependent 

6 mimquam.. Jam grande piaculuin infinitive, when it is the same as that 

factum est in Israel, 98. 8. of gaudeo, is usually omitted, as at 

8. arceantur] ' warded off,' as at 75. 15. 



272 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

Hymn 68 

This hymn was appointed for nocturns on Fridays. 
Hincmar of Reims assigns the hymn to Ambrose, but it 
is not his. Several writers (Mone, Pimont and others) 
have of late given it to Gregory, but on purely subjective 
grounds. 

The Roman breviary has made few changes in it. 
And (since the revision of 1 568) it has borrowed the first 
stanza of this hymn and the third of 71, to form a new 
hymn for Lauds on Trinity Sunday; see Atialecta LI. 
p. 30, Lippp. 112. 

Eacdhjlsvxi/At^ Fhilnopqsx Gabm Hacdefghi Ibcdefghimnopv Mafkm Vbcs 
Tu Trinitatis unitas, 
orbem potenter qui regis, 
adtende laudum cantica, 
quae excubantes psallimus. 
nam lectulo consurgimus 5 

noctis quieto tempore, 
ut flagitemus uulnerum 
a te medellam omnium. 
quo fraude quidquid daemonum 
in noctibus deliquimus, 10 

abstergat illud caelitus 
tuae potestas gloriae. 

4 qui Ec Fs, qua Es Mk {ras.). excusantes Ec. 5 iam Ig'o^. 

8 ad Echv Fn Gb Mk (manu rec.) m. medela Ha. 9 quod Ga Ic^ 

10 delinquimus Gb Hceg. 

1. Cp. 79. if. spiritus, \ qiiodcuvique restat tern- 

2. potenter] 90. 28, 117. 6, an- ports, j dum tneta noctis clauditur, | 
swers to \S\t. fortiter in Wisd. viii. i. stans ac laborans excubet. 

3. adtendo is usually followed by 7. uulnertuu] 19. 16. 

a dat. or a prep., here by an ace. as 9 f • ' in order that, whatever sin 

at Job xxi. 5 attendite me, and nine we have committed at night by 

other places in the Vulg. reason of the craft of evil spirits, 

4. Those who watch in order to this the might of Thy heavenly 
pray are compared to sentinels ; cp. glory may wash away.' Thus taken 
Prud. Cath. I. 77 f. uigil uicissim caelitus is virtually an adj., cp. 60, 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LXVIII 273 



ne corpus adsit sordidum, 

nee torpor instet cordium 

et criminis contagio 1 5 

tepescat ardor spiritus. 

ob hoc, redemptor, quaesumus, 

reple tuo nos lumine, 

per quod dierum circulis 

nuUis ruamus actibus. 20 

13 nee Eadlv Fn Gm Mm. absit Fnp Ic. 14 ne Ej Gb He Ig. 

15 nee Eyn Fs Gm Hd Idiv Mm Ve. 18 nos tuo Fo Hac lo Vb. 

19 quos Hd. 20 ruamur Elsv^tt Fiknos Gb Hcdeg'hi Idghimo* Mkm Vb. 



7 note. For daemomitn cp. 2. 11, 
66. 6; for the plu. form noctibus, 
47. 3 note ; for deliquimus, 7. 26 
note; iox abstergat, 7. 31 note. 

13. adsit almost =j'?/, a common 
use of the word in late Latin ; ep. 
Commodian Instr. I. xxix. 12 disce 
Deum, stulte, qui nult te immor- 
talem adesse; Paul. Nol. Epist. xxv. 
2 si cerlus esses tantum te adhuc 
adesse uicturum, quantum uixisti ; 
Sedul. Carm. Ii. 100 Deus... semper 
adest semperquefuit semperque mane- 
bit ; Fort. IX. ii. 22 cu7n de lege necis 
nemo solutus adest. However, the 
comparison with instet seems to 
suggest the force of ' to be there to 
witness against us at our prayers.' 

15. 'and so the warmth of the 
spirit grow cool by the pollution of 
guilt.' The negative of 14 is carried 
on. For contagio cp. 90. 16. 

16. tepescat] For the bad mean- 
ing cp. Rev. iii. 16 quia tepidus es. 

17 is identical with 62b. 9. The 
fact that this one hymn in the noc- 
turn series has more than four 
stanzas makes us wonder if this 



concluding stanza, which does not 
follow the preceding one as closely 
as its first words ob hoc would seem 
to indicate, at first belonged to an- 
other hymn, perhaps to 65 ; see the 
note there. This conjecture is to a 
certain extent confirmed by the ex- 
istence of this stanza in a slightly 
different form. Blume Attalecla Li. 
p. 30 quotes from a Prague MS a 
short hymn of two stanzas, the 
former of which runs Te puro corde 
quaesumus, \ tuo nos reple lumine, \ 
per quod dierum circulis \ nullis 
ruamur actibus. 

19 f. 'By means of which (i.e. if 
we are illuminated by this light) in 
the course of the days no actions of 
ours may cause us to fall.' 

circulis] 87. 14, 94. 3. Dierum, 
like in noctibus, gives a more 
general sense than the singular. 

20. ruamus] intransitive followed 
by the abl., a classical usage, as Cic. 
pro Milone 1 8 iacent tesiibus ; cp. 
32. 4 inpulsu ruit, 80. 8 curis 
ruant. For the general sense cp. 
Joh. xi. 10. 



18 



274 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



Hymn 69 
Appointed for nocturns on Saturday. 

EacdhjsvxijM^ Fhiklnpsx Gabm Habcdefghi Ibcdefghmnop Mafk Vbcs 
Summae Deus clementiae 
mundique factor machinae, 
unus potentialiter 
trinusque personaliter, 
nostros pius cum canticis 5 

fletus, benigne, suscipe, 
quo corda pura sordibus 
te perfruamur largius. 
lumbos iecurque morbidum 
adure igni congruo, 10 

5 piis Ech Im Vb, pios Gm. nostras preces Ic. 6 benignus Gm Hh. 
7 corde puro Eadv/x Fhknps Idghm Vs. 8 actibus (pro larg.) Ic. 



1 . ' O God of utmost mercy.' 
Here summae balances the line 
better than suvime. To say Deus 
clementiae would be well enough = 
Deus Clemens, and Deus summae 
clem. = Deus cle7nentissime; but the 
ttvo epithets, sutnme and clementiae, 
do not go well together. The read- 
ing of most of the MSS is summe, 
but in e and ae the MSS are no 
guide. 

2. machinae] 23. 6 note. 

3. potentialiter] 'in power,' like 
6. 3 1 unu»i potens. 

5. pius] Cp. 29. 39 note, ' hear 
graciously.' 

6. fletus] 20. 10 note. 

7. Mt. V. 8. The 5^M<? is used as in 
68. 9. corda pura is nom. or ace. 
aLs. These nominatives abs. are 
very common in the Rule of St 
Benedict : e.g. cap. \\ iussio eius... 
in discipulorum mentibus conspar- 
gattir, memor semper abbas quia 
etc. ; cap. VU abbalem non celauerit 
suum, hortans nos de hac re scrip- 
tura, dicens etc. 

9. iecur] The ancients regarded 



the liver as the main spring of life 
and as the seat of the passions and 
affections, cp. Soph. Aj. 937, Tim- 
aeus Locr. 100 A t6 p^hv dvfxofidis 
irtpl rav KapSlav, t6 8' iindvix.aTi,Kbv 
irepl TO Tjirap : Hor. Od. I. xiii. 4, 
Sat. I. ix. 66, Prud. Psych. 238 anne 
pudicitiae gelidum iecur utile bello 
est? 

morbidum] ' diseased ' in the 
moral sense, cp. 80. 8. 

10. adure] 'bum away' with 
cautery. So Celsus often uses the 
term as v. xxvi. 21 medicamentis... 
adurentibus, ib. 33 aduri locus debet, 
VIII. 2 ferraviento adurere. Cp. 
the Sarum prayer Ure igne sancti 
Spiritus rates nostros et cor nostrum, 
Domine (Maskell Ancient Litera- 
ture of the Church of England p. 
204, ed. 3 ; Procter and Words- 
worth Brev. Sar. fasc. 11. col. 500) ; 
Anal. XLVi. 17 ure per ignem 
geminum \ nostrarum sordes men- 
tium. 

cong^ruo almost comes to mean 
'healing': it 'meets the occasion' 
by curing the diseased part ; cp. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LXX 275 

accincti ut sint perpetim 
luxu remote pessimo, 

ut, quique horas noctium 

nunc concinendo rumpimus, 

donis beatae patriae 15 

ditemur omnes afifatim. 

II perpeti Gm. 13 quicquid Im. 14 concidendo lid. 

16 ditemus Ig'mv. 

the use of the word at 66. 21, and tiitm praeceptorum. 
Ambrosiaster's use of the word, 12. pessimo] note the superlative, 

Quaestiones 102 si congriiam paeni- as at 73. 16. 

tentiam agant, ib. 44 congrnas 13. qnique] 'all we who,' cp. 

poenas. 62. 13 note. 

II. accincti] 'girt up,' referring 14. rumpimus] See note on 

to lumhos in 9, cp. Lk. xii. 35, Eph. 66. 3. 

vi. 14, I Pet. i. 13, 13. 17 note, 15. patriae] Cp. Heb. xi. 14, 

120. 45; Ambr. in Luc. II. 70 ad 29. 55, 92. 13, 106. 8, 120. 37. 
omne accingaviur obsequiuni caeles- 16. affatim] 62. 18 note. 



Mattins Series. Hymns 70-72 

The Mattin.s series is thus arranged : on Sundays, 
hymn 2 Aeterne reruni conditor for winter use, and 70 
Ecce iam noctis to be sung during the summer; on 
Mondays, 3 Splendor paternae gloriae ; on Tuesdays, 20 
Ales diet 7iunthis ; on Wednesdays, 21 Nox et tenebrae et 
niibila ; on Thursdays, 22 Lux ecce siirgit anrea ; on 
Fridays, 71 Aeterfia caeli gloria ; on Saturdays, 72 Aurora 
iam spargit poluni. 

In metre the two following hymns are in a transition 
state. The laws of prosody are as a rule ob.served, but 
see 70. 2 aurora, 6 pellat I. (in ist foot of sapphic) ; 71. 3 
celsitonantis, 7 -qui' in, 1 1 cciligo, 1 5 dii'i ; 72. 9 man^ 
illud. 

Hymn 70 

70 was evidently written by the author of 63. See the 
introduction to that hymn. 



276 EA RLY LA TIN H YMNS 

EacdhjlvxTj/ii^ Fdfhijkops Habcdef/3 Ibefhmno Vbcs 
Ecce iam noctis tenuatur umbra, 
lucis aurora rutilans coruscat, 
nisibus totis rogitemus omnes 

cunctipotentem, 
ut Deus nostri miseratus omnem 5 

pellat languorem, tribuat salutem, 
donet et Patris pietate nobis 

regna polorum. 
praestet hoc nobis Deitas beata 
Patris ac Nati pariterque sancti 10 

Spiritus, cuius reboatur omni 
gloria mundo. 
2 rutilat coruscans Hd^. 3 rogitamus Ha, recogitemus Vb. 

5 noster Es/t Fiop^ Hd^, nosmet Hj8. misereatur Fs. 7 nobis p. 

Patris Evx Fio Ibh. sola {pro Patris) Eacdhj. 

2. lucis, as at 111. i, may be a in classical writers takes an ace, in 
kind of adjectival gen., cp. 10. 14 early and later writers a gen. as 
poenam corporis, 13. 2 diem saeculi, here, cp. Accius apud Non. 445. 12 
here meaning 'bright'; but it is miserabar mei; Prud. Psych. 580 
more probably a possessive gen., miserando inopntm. Festus p. 123 
lucis =diei, 'the dawn of day'; says miserattir is, qui conqueritur 
rutilans coruscat sufficiently supplies aliena iftcomtnoda : miseretur is, qui 
the idea of brightness. iniserum subleuat. The distinction 

rutilans, ' blushing,' is used of does not hold here, 

dawn by Accius apudY&xro L. L. 6. languorem] 'sickness,' much 

VII. V. 96, cp. 36. I, 111. I ; of the stronger than our word ' languor' ; 

flash of arms, Verg. Aen. VIII. 529; cp. Is. liii. 4 uere languores tiostros 

of the glitter of gold. Fort. Vlil. vii. ipse tulit, Mt. iv. 23, viii. 17, 121. 

351 rutilantior auro. 14; a.nd larig^tidum M. 7. 

3. totis] = omnibus as at 12. 27 As in the first stanza nox is con- 
note, 63. 3. trasted with lucis aurora, so here 

4. cunctipotentem] a late com- languor with salutem. 

pound, first as it seems used by 9 f. This doxology is the same as 

Prud. Perist. vii. 56 lesu cuncti- that of 63 and is an integral part of 

potens. the hymn, being contained in all 

5. Ps. Ixvi. (Ixvii.) I. miserari MSS (except perhaps one). 

Hymn 71 

[This is the hymn for Lauds on Fridays at ferial 
seasons ; see Juhan p. 25.] 

Like 31, this hymn is alphabetic. Notice that the 
C-stanza is duplicated and that the alphabetic sequence 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LXXI 277 

does not go beyond T ; cp. the note on 31. 85. The 
Latin alphabet contained 2^ letters and the redoubling 
of particular lines is common in these acrostic hymns. 
Thus e.g. at Anal. XXVII. xvi. we find the A-stanza 
repeated : Altissimi uerbum Patris \ Almaeqtie lesu iiir- 
ginis. In another hymn (ib. ix) a last line is added to 
make the odds even : ne ualeat subripere. See also the 
introduction to 31. 

Eacdghjlsvx7;/i0 Fdhijknopqrsy/3tf^ Gabm Habcdefghi 
Ibcdefghmnopv Mm Vbcs 

Aeterna caeli gloria, 
Beata spes mortalium, 
Celsitonantis unice, 
Castaeque proles uirginis : 

Da dexteram surgentibus, 5 

Exsurgat at mens sobria 
Flagransque in laudem Dei 
Grates rependat debitas. 

(H)ortus refulget lucifer 

I aeterne Ec. 4 casti Ec. 7 laude Ecdjlv Haef Iv. 8 perenni 
{pro rep.) Ec. 9 ortu Gab. 

I. The hymn is addressed to I. ii. 17 Martini, qui texit luste 

Christ ; gloria and spes are voca- tonantetn etc. 
tives. The thought in this line 6. mens sobria] 6. 16. 

seems to be that of Christ as the 7. flagrrans] 126. 15. 

subject of the praises sung by the 8. An echo of 6. 9 f. ; cp. 1. 2 

heavenly choirs, cp. 49. 1% caeUstem latides... debitas. re/erre is a much 

praestant gloriam. commoner verb than repetidere, for 

■2. spes] Col. i. 27, I Tim. i. i, returning thanks, but Ovid Alet. 11. 

87. 6, 88. 10, 99. 2, cp. 27. 9, Sedul. 693 has neu gratia facto \ nulla 

Hymn. I. 96 spes iti fine bonis hie rependatur, nitidam cape praemia 

homo, qui Deus est. vcucam. 

3. celsitonantis] 'of Him who 9. Hortns is written for ortus 

thunders on high,' one of the com- according to the vulgar pronuncia- 

pound words mentioned on 27. 8, tion of the time. Even Nigidius 

36. I. This word is used as a syno- Figulus, the contemporary of Cic, 

nym for Deus by Raban. Maur. gives the warning rusticusfit sermo, 

IV. 33, Theodulf LXV. I, andothers. si adspires perperatn. Cp. Catull. 

But commoner still is the simple LXXXiv. But the tendency to put 

/^«<wu, used by Prud., Sedul., Fort. in h grew. In the Peregrinatio 



278 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



Ipsamque lucem nuntiat, lo 

Kadit caligo noctium, 
Lux sancta nos inluminet : 

Manensque nostris sensibus 

Noctem repellat saeculi, 

Omnique fine diei 15 

Purgata seruet pectora. 

Quaesita iam primum fides 

Radicet altis sensibus, 

Secunda spes congaudeat, 

Tunc maior exstet caritas. 20 

10 sparsamque Ih. nutriat Gb. 1 1 kadat Ej. caligo cadit Vc. 

noxium Fy. 12 illuminat Ic. 13 manes Ig. 18 radies Ic. 

19 fecunda Mm. 20 et (pro tunc) Eag Hac lop, ut Ec, qua Edh^ Yd 

Hfgh, quo Ex/x Fhknops^ Gb Hbdei Ibeghimv Vc, quod EvFylnVs, 
cum F/3 Vb. extat Ih Vc. 



Aetheriae we find twice hac si=ac 
si, repeatedly Aosf turn = osttufn. An 
inscription of about IVth cent., 
Damasus Lxxxil. 7, has hornat= 
ornat. On the other hand in 31. 85 
ymnis, 120. 43 ydri the initial h is 
omitted for special reasons. 

ludfer here seems to be the 
Morning Star, as at 46. 5 ; not the 
sun, as usually in these hymns, cp. 
2. 9. 

10. sparsamque, the reading of 
the Mss, must be wrong, as the first 
word of the line must begin with t. 
Mone''s correction Ipsamque seems 
probably right : ' and heralds the 
light itself.' Cp. 46. jf., Fort. vii. 
vi. I f. Lucifer...lado nuntiat ore 
diem. If the rubricator of the arche- 
type omitted the / and the next 
copyist found only psam, he might 
look upon it as an abbreviation of 
sparsam. In all extant hymnals the 
stanza is written consecutively and 
not in lines: thus, Hortus refulget 
lucifer sparsamque lucem etc. 

Vet, as Verg., whose influence on 
the hymn writers was so great, 
always uses nuntia, nuntiare, nun- 



tius of ' announcing ' what has 
already taken place (cp. 1. 16, 56, 
116. 12), and as Lucifer in these 
hymns usually means 'the sun,' 
perhaps we might read lactamque ; 
cp. Lucr. V. 576 luna...icutat de 
cor pore lucem. 

1 1 . Kadit (so spelled to suit the 
alphabetic sequence), cp. 2. 37 
lapsus cadunt, 72. 5 decidat. 

noctium] ' of night,' not ' of the 
night just past,' which would require 
noctis, 47. 3 note. 

12. Here begins the spiritual ap- 
plication of the hymn. 

13. The subject is lux sancta. 

14. 'The night of the world' is 
the darkness of sin ; cp. Ambr. de 
Tob. 75 hoc pignus in hac saeculi 
node reddatur, hoc uestimento in 
his ntundi tenebris inducUur. The 
phrase therefore is not like diem 
saeculi of 13. 2 etc. 

15. ' preserve... from any close of 
day,' cp. 3. 28, 18. 6. 

1 7 f. For the three ' theological 
virtues ' cp. 15. 21 f. quaesita ' won,' 
as at 10. 22. primum answers to 
secunda in 19 and to tunc in 20. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LXXH 



279 



18. radicet] 'take root,' a late 
verb and usually dei onent ; but cp. 
Ambr. in Ps. XXXV. 4 ut regiiuni 
Dei in hominnm mentibtis radi- 
caret. Mone, thinking that sensibus 
has come in from line 13, would 
read altis mentibtis, which two 



words, as he notes, are often com- 
bined. 

19. congaudeat seems to refer to 
I Cor. xiii. 6. 

20. I Cor. xiii. 13 maior autem 
horum est caritas. 

exstet] Cp. 38. 18 note. 



Hymn 72 
Appointed for Mattins on Saturdays. 

EacdhjsvijM^ Fhlqs Gabm Habcdefghi^ Ibcdefghmnopv Mak Vbcs 

Aurora iam spargit polum, 
terris dies inlabitur, 
lucis resultat spiculutn; 
discedat omne lubricum. 

phantasma noctis decidat, 1; 

mentis reatus subruat, 
quidquid tenebris horridum 
nox adtulit culpae cadat, 

ut mane illud ultimum, 

quod praestolamur cernui, 10 

in lucem nobis effluat, 

3 resultet Fx, refulget Ec. speculum Ecsv- Gb W6 Ibmpv. 4 recedat 
He Vcs"^. 7 qui quid Ex. 9 manet Im. 10 postulamus Ec. 

cernuo Im. 1 1 luce Es. . affluat Ich. 



1. Cp. Lucr. II. 144 primtim 
Aurora twuo cum spargit Itimine 
terras, Verg. Aen. I v. 584, Dra- 
contius de Deo I. 671 roscida puni- 
ceuin spargens aurora ruborem. 

2. inlabitur] 'steals over,' as at 
73. 7 ; cp. 3. 5, 89. 10, 116. 19. 

3. ' the dart of the light (cp. 21. 
8 note) rebounds,' as a missile vio- 
lently flung would do after hitting 
its mark ; cp. Verg. Aen. X. 329 te/a 
. . .galea clipeoque resultant. 

4. discedat] ' avaunt ! ' as at 21. 
4, 26. 21. 

5. ' May the apparitions of the 
night die away.' phantasma, sing. 



for the plu., which we have at 
83. 6. 
decidat] 18. 6. 

6. reatus] 'guilt,' as at 86. 15: 
the condition of the reus 6. 11, 10. 
15 etc. subruat, lit. * be under- 
mined.' 

7. ' May whatever dark and 
horrible sin night has brought come 
to an end.' culpae goes with quid- 
quid. Cp. 27. 3 chaos... horridum, 
87. 5 noctis... horridae. For cadcU 
cp. 2. 27. 

9 f. ' that the last great morning, 
which we in awe expect, may burst 
for us into a flood of light.' niane is 



280 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



dum hoc tenore concrepat. 
12 uox canora Ih. concrepet E^ Habcef Vs^. 



a subst., as at 17. 3. With illud c^. 
19. 2 note. 

12. The line is difficult to under- 
stand. We might take concrepare 
(the con- being emphatic) as equiva- 
lent to conuenire, consendre, con- 
griiere. That meaning is given in 
Goetz's Glossary, and the Thesaurus 
quotes it from Claudius Mamertus : 
orbis uniitersi de animae statu nobis 
concrepare indicium. Its opposite is 
discrepare. 

If then we take ^^r = 'this 
morning,' the general sense would 
be ' while (since, on the under- 
standing that) this morning is in 
keeping ' {tenore concrepat) with it, 
i.e. with the day of judgment. If we 



behave to-day as we should wish to 
behave then , we may hope that that 
day will be to us a day of light. 

It is however perhaps easier to 
take hoc with ttnore. The subject 
would then be mane illud, — ' that 
that last morning may break into a 
flood of light for us, seeing that it 
is in keeping with this sense (in- 
tention),' with the mind that we 
are in. 

If the doxology Deo Patri sit 
gloria had been a part of the hymn 
from the beginning, the hoc tenore 
might be intended to point on to it. 
But it is contained in some Mss only. 

dum] Cp. Draeger Sytitax u. 
Stil des Tac. § 168. 



Vesper Series. Hymns 73 foil. 
Hymn yi 
This hymn was appointed for Vespers on Sunday, 
being based on Gen. i. 1-5. 

Eacdhjsv77/x0 Fdhlnpqs Gabd Habcdefgi^ Ibcdefghnopv Mamx Vbc 

Lucis creator optima, 

lucem dierum proferens, 

primordiis lucis nouae 

mundi parans originem : 

qui mane iunctum uesperi 5 

diem uocari praecipis, 

taetrum chaos inlabitur; 

audi preces cum fletibus. 

3 primordia Gb. 4 paras Hd^. 5 nam (pro qui) Gd. 

est solis. 

5. 'Who biddest morning, joined 



1. Cp. 46. I, 66. 1. 

2. Cp. 3. 2 and 4. 

3. ' furnishing with the first be- 
ginnings of newly created light,' 
the light of Gen. i. 3 : the sun, 
moon and stars were not created 
until the fourth day, ib. 14 f. ; Ambr. 
Hex. IV. I lucem, quae praecessor 



to evening, to be called day,' Gen. 
i. 5. mane is a subst., cp. 17. 3 
note, uesperi dat. of uespere, which 
nominative is found at 18. 5, Gen. i. 
5, 8, 13 etc. 
7. taetrum] as at 60. 11. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LXXIV 281 

ne mens grauata crimine 
uitae sit exsul munere, i o 

dum nil perenne cogitat 
seseque culpis inligat. 
caelorum pulset intimum, 
uitale toUat praemium; 
uitemus omne noxium, 15 

purgemus omne pessimum. 
II cogitans Ih Mm. 14 toilet Gd. 16 purgemur Gd Ih'. 

chaos] Cp. 27. 3 note. The Latin idiom freely uses adj.'s 

inlabitur] as at 72. 2. in this way; cp. e.g. Sedul. Carm. 

8. Cp. 20. 10 note. il. 121 puerilia milia, 'thousands 

ID. exsul] 'deprived of,' cp. note of boys.' 
on 62. 29. mens = '^so^^\.' tollat] 'may it receive,' cp. for 

II is an echo of 4. 3, — 'has no this use of tollere, which is common 

thought of eternity.' in late Latin, Mt. xx. 14 tolle quod 

1 a. inligat] ' entangles ' ; cp. tuum est. 

Prov. V. 22 fimibus peccatorum 16. pessimum] 'evil,' the superL 

suorum constringitur. being used as at 69. 13. 

14. uitale answers to uitae in 10. 

Hymn 74 

Appointed for Vespers on Monday : it describes the 
creation work of the second day, as in Gen, i. 6-10. 

EacdghjsvxT/M^ Fdhiknps Gabm Hacdefgitf Ibcdefghimnopv Vbcs 
Inmense caeli conditor, 
qui, mixta ne confunderent, 
aquae fluenta diuidens 
caelum dedisti limitem; 

firmans locum caelestibus 5 

simulque terrae riuulis, 

2 confunderet Hd*, confundere Ec. 

I. inmense] 1. 69 note. So far water-floods are those above and 

as I know, not a MS earlier than the those below the vault of heaven, 

middle of the Xlth cent, writes which is thought of as solid, cp. 44. 

immense. 3 note, mixta is nom. agreeing with 

2 f. ' Who dividing the water- fluenta to be supplied. 

floods, lest, if mingled, they should 5 f. 'establishing a place for the 

make confusion, hast set the heaven streams of heaven (i.e. for those 
as their boundary.' Gen. i. 7. The above the finnament) and also for 



282 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



ut unda flammas temperet, 
terrae solum ne dissipet; 

infunde nunc, piissime, 
donum perennis gratiae, 
fraudis nouae ne casibus 
nos error atterat uetus. 

lucera fides inueniat, 
sic luminis iubar ferat, 
haec uana cuncta terreat, 
banc falsa nulla conprimant. 



15 



7 undae Eh. 8 solo Hd^ dissipent Ea Fhr Hd^g Ic. 15 con- 

terat Ha. 16 comprimat Es0 Fs Gb Hd'. 



those of earth.' firmans is chosen 
with reference to the firmament, 
cp. Ps. xxxii. (xxxiii.) 6 uerbo 
Domini caelijirmati sunt. 

7 f. ' that the water may allay 
the burning heat and not destroy 
the face of the earth ' ; the Jlammae 
are those of the sun, which without 
the moisture would scorch the earth, 
cp. Ambr. Hex. Ii. 12 sicut neces- 
saria ignis creatura, ut ordinata et 
disposita permaneant caelique de- 
mentia temperet aqiiarum redundan- 
tia non superjlua, ne alteruin altera 
consumeretur ...ita utriusijue tem- 
perauit dispendia, ut neqtie plus 
ignis excoqueret neque exuberaret 
aqua quam inminutio Jieret utrius- 
que moderata. 

8. Gen. ix. 11 neque erit del nceps 
diluuium dissipans terram. 

terrae solum] Cp. Lucr. v. 1294. 

9. infunde] 3. 8. Perhaps in 
reference to the waters just men- 
tioned ; but the comparison is not 
carried on. 



10. perennis gratiae] 3. lof. 

11. fraudis] 3. 20. 
casibus] 82. 28. 

12. atterat] 75. 12. The uetus 
error appears to mean the fall of 
Adam, which is repeated in subse- 
quent falls. 

13. lucem fides] The combina- 
tion is found at 3. 27 and often. 

14. ' O that it may bring a beam 
of brightness.' sic is used in a peti- 
tion as at 22. 9, where see the note. 

iubar] 3. 7. 

15. baec] lux^ and in 16 kanc\ 
Jidem. 

uana] In the O.T. whoever is 
without the knowledge of God is 
' vain ' or ' empty,' and especially is 
this word applied to false gods who 
are powerless to help ; cp. i Kings 
xii. 21 nolite declinare post uana, 
quae non proderunt uobis neque 
eruent uos, quia uana sunt. In the 
hymn emissaries of the devil are 
meant, and the neuter is partly 
contemptuous. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LX XV 283 

Hymn 75 
Appointed for Vespers on Tuesday, based on Gen. 1*. 
1 1 -1 3, the third day of the creation. 

EacdghjlsvxT/M^ FdhijklnprsuyjSytf Gabm Hacdefghitf Ibcdefghimnopv 
Ma Vbc 

Telluris ingens conditor, 

mundi solum qui eruens, 

pulsis aquae molestiis, 

terram dedisti inmobilem, 

ut germen aptum proferens, 5 

fuluis decora floribus, 

fecunda fructu sisteret 

pastumque gratum redderet, 

mentis perustae uulnera 

munda uiroris gratia, 10 

2 mundum H^. 5 actum Ev He. 7 fructum Ec Hd Id'v. 

10 mundi Ex Iv. uirore gratiae Ecdhjl/u Fdhjprsy/37^ Ig^m Vb (uirorem 
g. Hd), uigore gratiae Esv lb, mundauit roris gratia Fi Hcetf, mundabit 
rore gratiae Gb. 

I. ingena] An unpleasing word 5; Sedul. Carm. iv. 113 litore 

in this connexion ; but see Prud. sistentem firmabat ab aequore \ pie- 

A path. 809 Deus ingens \ atqtu beni. 
superfusus trans omnia. 8. pastom] ' food,' usually for 

1. \ix2iCO\\\.. de Deo \. 151 eruitur cattle, but cp. Lucr. vi. 11 27 OMt 

tellus uaslo demcrsa profunda. alios hominum pastus \ Prud. Cath. 

4. 'didst banish the troublesome iv. 56 qui pastuiii fatnitlo daret pro- 

waters and set the earth that it bato; Levit. iii. 14 pasium ignis 

should not be moved ' ; inmobilem dominici. So also at times xo/w^fw, 

is emphatically put at the end of x^/"'*<''M«« x^P'''"^- 
the stanza. Ps. xcii. (xciii.) i, ciii. 10. uiroris gratia] like soporis 

(civ.) 5 ; Ambr. Hex. l. 22 terram _^r. in 6. 4. CI ichtov., reading «»><wr 

...mole sua inmobilem manere. gratiae, makes the comment, uiror 

5 f. Note the climax germen, Jlos, gratiae ad kerbam uirentem tertio 

fructus, pastus, and the alliteration die productam congruum habet re- 

in 6, 7. sponsum, el ex exposito ad mentem 

6. folois] ' bright,' with no uitiorum aestu perustam, quae tali 
special reference to its usual meaning uirore ttegetetur, reuirescai et inno- 
•golden red,' so Prud. Cath. ix. 76 ttetur. [Walpole records that two 
sed Deus dum luce fulua mortis other MSS not mentioned elsewhere, 
antra inlumiiuit. which he calls 'Mainz xil, Koln 

7. sisteret] 'present itself,' xiv,' agree with the reading of 
scarcely more than esset. Cp. 66. Ex Iv.] The many variants may be 



284 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

ut facta fletu diluat 

motusque prauos adterat. 

iussis tuis obtemperet, 

nullis malis adproximet, 

bonis repleri gaudeat 15 

et mortis actum nesciat. 

11 deluat EcMhya^ Fin legn Vc, deleat Gm Hce, 13 ut temp. Ej. 
15 boni E/u. 16 actus E^ Fs Hcd'e%i0 Ibeg-n, actuum lo. 

due to the rarity of the word uiror. verb twice used in the Vulgate, at 

perustae seems to refer to arida in Ps. xxxii. 6, 9, for the usual adpro- 

Gen. i. 9, 10, but with exaggerated pinquare. For the sense cp. Prov. v. 

emphasis. 8 ne adpropinques foribus domus 

II. Cp. 2. 16. mens, hova ??ientis eius. 

in 9, is the subject of diluat, ad- 16. mortis actum] ' the action of 

terat, and of the verbs in 13 f. eternal death.' Cp. 62 b. 13 carnis 

1 2 gives the converse of 74. 1 2. actu. 
1 4. adproximet is a late and rare 

Hymn y^ 
Appointed for Vespers on Wednesday, based on 
Gen. i. 14-19, the fourth day of the creation. Note the 
structure of the hymn. The first two stanzas contain 
relative clauses concerning God and the creation of the 
sun, moon and stars. The third stanza contains a final 
clause, and not until tlie last stanza is the prayer uttered 
to which all the first part of the hymn has been leading 
up. 

EacdhjlsvxijM^ Fhijklnpsy Gabm Habcdefghitf Ibcdefghmnopv Ma Vbc 
Caeli Deus sanctissime, 
qui lucidum centrum poli 

2. lucidum centrum p.] 'the there is no finite verb, t/ar^j in 12 

shining centre of the sky ' is the implies a past tense for stanza II. 

sun, or to be exact the spot where It was the more easy for the writer 

the sun is fixed. It may be objected to proceed in this order because at the 

that in this way stanza i anticipates outset he had in view his application 

stanza il. Perhaps the objection is of the facts, inlumina cor hominum. 
not very serious. The writer des- The Thesaurus as the meaning of 

cribes in stanza I what now happens centrum gives medium camerae, i.e. 

(pingis), and in stanza 11 how this the centre of a vaulted ceiling, of 

state of things came about : — though course dealing with the word as a 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LX XVI 285 

candore pingis igneo, 

augens decoro lumine, 

quarto die qui flammeam 5 

soils rotam constituens, 

lunae ministrans ordini 

uagos recursus siderum, 

ut noctibus uel lumini 

diremptionis terminum, 10 

primordiis et mensiutn 

signum dares notissimum : 

inlumina cor hominum, 
absterge sordes mentium, 

3 pinguis I^. 4 decora Ecdhl, decore Ev lb', decori Es Gb Hhi 

lopv Vb, decoretn Fs Hd Ic V'c. lumina Ecdhls Hgi Ip Vb (luminam Iv), 
luminis Ic, lumini Fs Hd In Vc. 5 quarta Ev. 7 lunam Hce*. 

ministras Eadj Hg Idv Vb. ordinem Elv' Fs Had IbhMno Vc. 9 et Ec, 
luminis Esv^ Fhis Gab Hdef len, luminum Id Vc. 10 direptionis Ejs 

Fhiknps Gbm Hacefg Id'egv, directionis Hd Id*h. 12 daret Edjv Fhi 

Gb Ib'g'v Vb, darent Eacl, dare Es lehp^. 13 hominis Ic. 

Latin word, not a Greek one. It sun,' as at Lucr. v. 433, 565, Prud. 

refers to a passage of Cassian Coll. Catli. xii. 5 etc. Cp. salts. ..globo 

XXIV. vi. I, which is well worth 23. 7. 44. 10 is not quite parallel, 
reading : Quaiu ob rem ita monachi 7 f. ' supplying to the moon's 

oinnis intentio in union semper est path the speeding courses of the 

defigenda, cunctarumque cogitatio- stars,' cp. Judg. v. 20 slellae manen- 

num eius orttis ac circumittis in id tes in ordine sua; Job xxxviii. 33, 

tpsum,\.e. ad memoriain Dei,stremie 69. 8. Observe that there is no verb 

reuocandi, uelut si quis teretis apsidis in the relative clause. 
cameram nolens in sublime conclu- 8. uagos] 36. 4 note. The 'fixed' 

dere, sublimissimiillius ceniri lineam stars are included, returning to their 

iugiter circumducat, ac secundum stations at the appointed time. They 

certissimam normam omnem rotun- are regarded as waiting upon the 

ditatis parilitatem structurae colligat moon, their mistress. 
discipltna. Cassian goes on to say 9 f. ' that Thou mightest give to 

how impossible it would be to con- night and day a limit of separation 

struct a good vault absque illius and a conspicuous sign for the be- 

medietate examine. ginnings of months.' For the plu. 

poli] 2. ro note. noctibus see 47. 3 note. 

3. pingis] 27. 6 note. uel] 'and,' 37. 6 note. 

4. 'enhancing it with beauteous ro. diremptionis] distinctionis, 
light,' cp. Lucr. v. 722 ignibus discretionisatquediuisionis{(Z\\c\it.). 
aucta. To this unusual sense of The sign would be in 9, 10 the 
augens the many variants are due. rising and setting of the .sun, in 1 1 

decoro lumine] 6. ^, cp. 116. 14. the changes of the moon. 
6. soUs rotam] 'the di.sk of the 14. absterge] as at 68. 11. 



286 EA RL V LA TIN H YMNS 

resolue culpae uinculum, 15 

euerte moles criminum. 

16 auerte Id. 

16. Cp. Tac. Ann. xii. 66 in hymn (v^wo/^c/rt xxvii. p. 112) des- 

tanta mole curarum ; Juvenc. Ii. cribes us as peccati mole grauide 

786 spinosus ager curartim mole pressos. 
grauatis \ respondel. A Mozarabic 

Hymn 77 

Appointed for Vespers on Thursday, based on Gen. i. 
20-23, the fifth day of creation. 

EacdhjsvxTjju^ Fhijknpqsxyy Gabm Hacdefghi Ibcdefghmnopv Max Vbcs 
Magnae Deus potentiae, 
qui ex aquis ortum genus 
partim remittis gurgiti, 
parti tn leuas in aera, 

dimersa lymphis inprimens, 5 

subuecta caelis inrogans, 

ut stirpe una prodita 

diuersa rapiant loca: 

largire cunctis seruulis, 

quos mundat unda, sanguinis, 10 

1 magne Ecd Fs Haceghi. 3 partem Ec. gurgitis E/t Ic. 
4 leuans Ic. acre Gb. 5 imprimis Eh, imprimes In. 6 subiecta 
Esyu Ig'hv. caelo E/it. inrigans Es, irrogas Fs Id^v. 8 rapiunt E/u, 
rapiens Fi. 

I. 'O God of mighty power,' take up different abodes.' lymphis 

i.e. 'O great and mighty God.' I and caelis are (datives) governed by 

have written tnagnae here, as in inprimens a.x\dinrogans,hn\. (as oiien 

69. I sumtnae ; see the note there. happens) connected at the same 

2 f. ' Who, of the race sprung time (as dat. or abl.) with i/imersa 
from the waters, sendest some back and subuecta. irrogare is generally 
to the deep, raisest others into the used of inflicting something disad- 
air.' vantageous, as at Levit. xxiv. 19. 

paxtim...paxtini] adverbs mean- 7. stirpe una is explained by 

ing ' partly,' originally the ace. of line 2. 

pars. 9 f. largire... nescire] Perhaps 

5 f. ' Setting down those plunged an echo of 18. 5, 19. 13 f. 

in the waters, assigning those that seruulis] 15. 3J note, 

are raised to the heavens; that 10. 'Who are cleansed by the 

sprung from cfne stock they may water and the blood.' sanguinis is 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LXXVIU 287 

nescire lapsus criminum 

nee ferre mortis taedium ; 

ut culpa nullum deprimat, 

nullum leuet iactantia, 

elisa mens ne concidat, 15 

elata mens ne corruat. 

1 1 lapsum Ectlh Fpsx Gb Hacd'g Icd'g^mop Vbc, lapsis Ej. criminis 
He. 13 deprimet Eh. 14 leuat Es Gb. iactantiae Fx. 15 nee 

Eae He Icm. 16 nee Eac. 

probably to be taken as nom., the templationum saeculi ad imhuendas 

form (cp. Ronsch p. 264) being gentes nomine tuo in baplismo ttio. 

adopted to suit the metre, like nee- 11. lapsus] 2. 27. 

tare at 34. id. The sense of the criminum may be 'into sins' or 

passage is to be compared with that ' eaused by sins.' 

of 33. 20 sanguis, tinda proflnit, 34. 12. 'the loathsomeness of ever- 

12, Sedul. Carm. V. 290 corpus, lasting death,' cp. 76. 16. Perhaps 

sanguis, aqua tria uitae munera taedium is to be taken in the special 

noslrae, i Joh. v. 6. Of course the sense of 'malice,' as at Vincent. 

juxtaposition with tituia makes it Ler. Comm. xxx absque taedio, 

natural to consider s. as genitive ; praesumptione, et gratia ; where 

but in a hymn concerning the otf- Moxon refers to Ronsch Semasilog. 

spring of the water the special men- Beitrdge i. p. 69. 

tion of the water of Joh. xix. 34 13. nullum] = «^w/«^w, ep. 30. 3 

and of baptism is more than likely. note ; or rather, the clause being 

So Aug. Conf. XIII. 26 concipiat et final, ut nullum stands for ne quetn- 

niare et pariat opera tiestra, et prO' quam. 

ducant aquae reptilia animarum 15. elisa] 'broken,' 'crushed'; 

uiuarnm . . .repserunt enim sacra- cp. Ps. cxliv. (cxlv.) 14 Dominus... 

menta tua, Deus, per opera sancto- erigit omnes elisos. 

rum tuorum inter medios fluctus 17. elata] i Tim. iii. 6. 

Hymn 78 
Appointed for Vespers on Friday, based on Gen. i. 
24-31, the sixth day of creation. 

Ecdhjsvx97^0 Fhnpqs7 Gabm Habedefghi Ibedefhmnopv Mamx Vbcs 
Plasmator hominis Deus, 
qui cuncta solus ordinans 
humum iubes producere 
reptantis et ferae genus, 
3 iubens Fs' Ig. 4 et ferre Fs Gb Vs, efferre Ic. 

I . plasmator] ' creator,' ' maker,' 4. 'the race of the creeping thing 

cp. 23. 10 note. and of the beast.' The gen.'s are 



288 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

qui magna rerum corpora 5 

dictu iubentis uiuida, 

ut seruiant per ordinem, 

subdens dedisti homini : 

repelle a seruis tuis, 

quidquid per inmunditiam lo 

aut moribus se suggerit 

aut actibus se interserit. 

da gaudionim praemia, 

da gratiarum munera, 

dissolue litis uincula, 15 

adstringe pacis foedera. 

6 dicto Hei In^, dictum Gb' Hd. 8 hominem Es Hbi Mm' Ihv. 

16 abstringe Ev Fn Hbde Ihv Mm. 

sing, for plu. The word used for 7 f . Cp. Gen. i. 28, Ps. viii. 8, 

fera at Gen. i. 24 f. is bestia, and Eccli. xvii. 4. 

for reptans, reptile. 10. The hymn rather unkindly 

5 f. ' Who hast put into subjec- views these creatures as unclean, 

tion to man, that they may serve In per inmunditiam the per is used 

him each in its place, the mighty as in per ludum, per iram facere. 

forms of things called into life at 12. For interserit Mone would 

the bidding of Thy command.' read inserit, probably because of 

magna rerum corpora] a poetical the hiatus in 9. But a hymn may 

phrase used to contrast the great have both hiatus and elision, cp. 

bulk of beasts with their subser- Fort, vi 11. viii. i o regina potens ciii 

vience to men. Cp. Lucr. I. 680 aurum et purpura uile est. If any 

corpora rerum; Juvenc. I. 157 cor- change were needed it would be 

pora magna iiutencum. So Ambr. better to omit se to be supplied in 

Hex. VI. 35 (of the elephant) haec thought from se in 11. 

tantae molis bestia subiecta nobis im- 14. gratiarum] 'of grace,' 

periis seruit humanis. brought into the plu. by the other 

6. dictu] 'at the bidding,' the plu. 's around, 

abl. of a verbal subst. very rare 15. i.e. free us from the power of 

except as an abl. of respect (so- strife. 

called supine) : viirabile dictu, 16. pacis foedera] 50. 29. foedus 

tie/as dictu etc. Mone would read pacis occurs at Is. liv. 10, Ezek. 

dicto, ' at the word.' xxxvii. 26. 

Hymn 79 

79 is generally, but not universally, appointed for 

Vespers on Saturday during the summer, and we are 

hereby brought face to face with a difficult question. 

The first six of the Vesper hymns, 73-78, are alike in 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LXXIX 289 

every respect and are no doubt the work of one writer. 
They appear with unfaih'ng regularity in all the MSS of 
the later hymnal. But O lux beata Trinitas is a hymn 
of quite another type, with only two instead of the usual 
four stanzas. Did the Roman use ever have a seventh 
hymn concerning the seventh day of the creation, the 
sabbath rest, answering more or less to 80? Probably 
not. If it did the hymn has disappeared ; see the intro- 
duction to 80. Trier 1245 omits hymn 79, though it 
contains 5 Dens creator omnium^ which was normally the 
winter hymn for Saturday Vespers. In the Mozar. MS 
Madrid 1005 (Hh 60) the rubric of 79 is cottidianns 
dominicalis, and in St Gall. 387 the hymn is appointed 
dominica de sancta Trtnitate, in Vesp. D. XII, Durham 
III. 32, Harl. 2961 it is described as inuocatio ad sanctarn 
Trinitatem, in the Moz. brev. of Ortiz (1502) it is ap- 
pointed in dom. H post oct. epiphan. 

As to the contents of the hymn. Probably on account 
of its shortness, it has been much interpolated. A good 
many MSS add between stanzas I and II: iam tetnpus 
noctis aduenit noctem quietam tribuens, diluailo nos respice, 
saluator unigettite. The Mozarabic authorities add two 
more stanzas after this : tu Christe solue uincida, absterge 
nostra uitia, relaxa pius crimina et indulge facinora. 
Oranius ut exaudias, precamur tit subuenias, Christe lesu 
omnipotens, tu nos a malo libera. A Rheinau MS (Cod. 
LXXXIII, see Werner die dltesten Hymnensammlungen 
von Rheinau p. 52) adds : Nos angelorum gloriam, apos- 
tolorum gratiam et martyrum certamina ac confitentuin 
praemia, laudemus almas uirgines in niente sacratissimas, 
quod uirgo Christum gigneret mundoque uitani redderet. 

[This is one of the hymns which the Benedictine 
editors of St Ambrose ascribe without hesitation to that 
saint. It is indeed worthy of him, though the constant 
w. 19 



290 EA RLY LA TIN H YMNS 

rhyme is unlike his workmanship. In three different 
passages of de una Deitate Hincmar speaks of it un- 
questionably as his. Daniel IV. p. 48 argues for the 
authorship of Ambrose from the well-known passage in 
Epist. 21 where he speaks of the zeal with which the 
people of Milan daily proclaimed their faith in the 
Trinity by singing his verses. But the fact that this 
beautiful hymn did not find its way into the Ambrosian 
use is sufficient to disprove the contention. The eighteen 
hymns of St Ambrose given above contain the doctrine 
of the Trinity clearly enough to meet the requirements 
of the Epistle referred to.] 

Eacdhlsvx$i7/i^ Fabhlpqs Gdm Habcdefi Ibcdefghmnopv Max Vbcs 
O lux beata Trinitas 
et principalis unitas, 
iam sol recedit igneus, 
infunde lumen cordibus. 
te mane laudum carmine, 5 

te deprecamur uespere, 

3 recedat Ic, recedunt Gd^ ignibus E5. 4 sensibus He. 5 lau- 

dant Hei Ig Vb, laudent E5 Fb He", ladunt Ec, laude Gd. carmina Ehv5 
Fb Ha^bcdef Igmo Vb. 6 deprecemur Eacdhvx50 Fabnps Hi 

Ibdeghmnv Vs, praedicamus Es Max. uesperi Eahvx Hbe^ Ib^cdegnv. 

1. l>eata seems to belong to 3. sol igneus] Verg. Georg. iv. 
Trinitas rather than to lux. 426, Prud. Cath. Ii. 25. 

2. principalis] 'princely,' 'royal,' 4. Cp. 3. 7 f. 

is the adj. oi princeps so often used 5. From deprecamur in 6 a suit- 
in these hymns, as at 24. ro, 30. 32, able word is to be supplied, ' we 
31. 3 etc. Cp. Ps. 1. 14 spiritu worship' or the like, deprecamur 
principali (irvtifiaTi. rjye/xoviKif) con- often means simply ' we pray ' not 
firtna me, and 68. \l. o Trinitatis deprecate (19. 13 note), and may 
unitas \ orbem patenter qui regis. It itself be supplied, laudum is at 
is, however, possible that the word least on its way to becoming 
is here used in the sense of ' primal, ' ' Lauds.' 

* fundamental.' Much controversy For the repetition of te at the 
has, of course, gathered about the commencement of these three con- 
use of the word in patristic Latin, secutive Hnes see 1. 3 f. 
especially in certain connexions : 7. ' May our humble praise ' — or 
see Puller Primitive Saints and See ' may our glorj' prostrate before 
of Rome pp. 29 — 32, 441—442 Thee' — 'laud Thee through all 
(ed. 3). ages,' i.e. may we be permitted to 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN.LXXX 291 

te nostra supplex gloria 
per cuncta laudet saecula. 

8 laudat E« He», laudes Hd. 

take a humble part in the triumph mean the soul : see Kirkpatrick on 

song of heaven, supplex belongs to Ps. vii. 5. As, however, gloria is 

the predicate rather than the sub- sometimes used in these hymns (as 

ject. Cp. Ps. Ivii. 9 exsurge, gloria at 40. 34) in the sense of an ' as- 

mea (in Ps. xv. (xvi.) g the Vulg. cription of glory,' it may perhaps be 

has lingua tnea). The ' glory ' of so intended here, 
man in the Psalms is interpreted to 



Hymn 8o 

A most interesting, though difficult, hymn. It has 
been pointed out in the introduction to 79 that, whereas 
the ferial Vesper hymns 73-78 are based on the several 
days of the creation, the series then breaks off and 79 
O lux beata Trinitas is interpolated instead. Did the 
Roman breviary ever have a special Vesper hymn on 
the seventh day, similar to the first six ? If so, why has 
it disappeared ? 

Rerum Deus fons omnium is not likely to be the hymn 
sought for. For one of the two MSS which contain it is 
of the Mozarabic use. And the scanning of ?gris (for 
aegris) in 7 points to Spain as its birthplace. Thus 
Prudentius scans Enigma, h^resis. Meander, spk^ra etc. ; 
and Traube {Poetae Latini aeui car. p. 791) quotes from 
Spanish poets cordulU, dicat?, plum?, pr(!potens, prhiia, 
unit?. Probably therefore a Spanish poet saw his oppor- 
tunity and wrote hymn 80. But if it be of Spanish 
origin and, at one time at least, part of the Mozarabic 
use, how comes it to be in a Bobbio MS (Turin G. V. 38)? 
And why is it not in the printed breviary of Ortiz of 
1502.? 



19 — 1 



292 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 



lo Ma 
Rerum Deus fons omnium, 
qui rebus actis omnibus 
totius orbis ambitum 
censu replesti munerum, 

non actibus fessus manens, 5 

laboribus non saucius, 
cunctis quietem das, aegris 
curis ruant ne morbidi : 

concede nunc temporibus 

uti malorum consciis, 10 

instare iam uirtutibus 

at munerari prosperis; 

terroris ut cum iudicis 
horror supremus ceperit. 



3 ambitu lo Ma. 4 numerum lo. 


7 cuncta Ma. 


quietis lo. 


8 morbidis lo Ma. 9 mortalibus Ma. 


10 hostiis Ma. 


II in- 


stitue lo. 12 munerare Ma, munere lo. 


14 caeperit lo. 





2. The time of actis is contem- come from the surrounding words 
porary with that of replesti in 4. ending in -is. Blume punctuates 
From the choice of this word rather cunctis quietem das aegris, which 
\hsLnf actis, rebus seems not to be a can but mean that God gives the 
synonym oi rerum in line i. sabbath rest only to the sick, mor' 

3. orbis ambittun] 120. 10, cp. bidi is my conjecture. 

13. 25. 9 f. ' Grant us now to know our 

4. censu] 9. 16, 14. 18. wrong-doings and make use of fixed 
5 f. The thought of the stanza is seasons, and even now to strive after 

that God, Himself not needing rest, virtues and to be rewarded with suc- 

made the sabbath for man. cess.' nufu is contrasted with the 

manens] 'being'; cp. 44b. 8 time of 13 f. 
note. temporibus] such seasons as the 

6. saucius is frequently used in end of a week, when we may 

poetry in the sense of ' ailing,' specially review our past conduct, 
'disabled.' 12. prosperis] ' temporal happi- 

7f. 'Thou givest rest to all, that ness,' cp. 69. 16. 
they may not perish stricken with i3f. 'That when the last fear of 

sickly cares.' the terror of the Judge shall seize 

aegris curis] Cp. Lucr. in. 905 the world.' For this use of horror 

doloribus aegris, ib. 933 aegris with a gen. cp. 57. 14,102. 11, and 

luctibus', Juvenc. I. 631 aegra... for the sense of the passage 86. 14. 

cura. Join curis ruant 68. 20 note. [Perhaps it would be better to re- 

morbidi] 'diseased,' as at 69. 9. tain the MS reading coeperit (caep.) 

The MS reading morbidis would ' shall begin.' There would then be 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LXXXI 293 

laetemur omnes in uicem 15 

pacis repleti munere. 

15 laetemus Ma. i6 replesti munerum lo. 

a contrast between those who have compense. 

prepared betimes and others.] i6. repleti munere looks back 

15. ia uicem] i.e. by way of re- to lines 4 and 7. 



Hymns for the Day Hours. Hymns 8i fif. 

Hymn 8i 

This has always been the hymn for Prime in the later 
series, taking the place of 51 Post matutinis laudibus, the 
hymn for the same office in the old hymnal. But Vat. 
82 f. 219V has another short hymn for Prime: Christe 
caelorum conditor, \ Dens dominator omnium^ \ placabilis 
nos aspice \ precantes tuos famulos. \ hora prima psalli- 
mus, I landes Deo referimus, \ qui caecam noctem uicimus, \ 
Christum, regent requirimus. \ Deo patri sit gloria \eiusque 
soli filio I cum spiritu paraclito \ et nunc et per perpetuum. 
Blume suggests that this hymn, being the shorter one, 
was intended for the summer. 

Abdghk Eacdhjv5)it Fbhlqs Gabd Habcdefgh/t Ibho Mx Vabcps 
lam lucis orto sidere 
Deum precemur supplices, 
ut in diurnis actibus 
nos seruet a nocentibus ; 

linguam refrenans temperet, 5 

ne litis horror insonet, 
1 precamur Eh5 Fb. 5 temperat E5. 

I. lucis ..sidere] i.e. the sun. 5. Cp. Ps.xxxiii. (xxxiv.) 13; Ja. 

3. diumis actibus] the actions i. 26 non refrenans linguam suam. 
of the coming day, like actuum 6. 'that grating stiife may not 
sequentium of 64. 7. resound on it,' the tongue bemg the 

4. nocentibus] like 'all things instrument, like i-a/a/«« /w<?«ar^ in 
that may hurt us' {noxia cuncta) Ovid. Cp. J a. iv. i tinde bella et 
of our Collect. li(f^ '« nobis? Lucr. il. 410 serrae 



294 



EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 



uisum fouendo contegat 
ne uanitates hauriat. 
sint pura cordis intima, 
absistat et uecordia, 
carnis terat superbiam 
potus cibique parcitas ; 
ut cum dies abscesserit 
noctemque sors reduxerit, 
mundi per abstinentiam 
ipsi canamus gloriam. 



lO 



15 



7 concitat E5, 8 uanitatis Ab Ech Gb lb, uanitatem Hd. 

Ti superbia Edh. 14 sol ES lo Va^. 



stridentis acerbum hotTorem, Or 
litis horror may mean 'dread strife,' 
cp. 57. 14 horror timoris; 80. 13. 

7 f. ' that His protection may 
screen our eyes, lest they drink in 
vanities.' Ps. cxviii. (cxix.) 37 auerte 
oculos nieos ne uideant uanitatem. 
Probably the hymn writer is also 
thinking of Aug. Conf. vii. 20 
posteaquam fouisli caput nescientis 
et clausisti oculos meos, ne uiderent 
uanitatetn, cessaui de me paululiun 
et consopita est insania mea. 

fouendo] Cp. 6. 32 note and for 
the use of the gerund see Index. 

uanitates] 74. 15 note. 

hauriat] Cp. Verg. Aen. iv. 661 
hauriat hunc oculis ignem ; Ambr. 
in Luc. VI. 44 ne confusionem... 
hauriret ; Fort. v. ii. 4 hauriret 
mens oculata fidem ; Eccl. i. 18 non 
saturabitur oculus uisu. 

9. Cp. Ambr. Hex. iv. i sol in- 
cipit. etnunda oculos mentis, homo, 
animaeque interiores optiitus, ne qua 
festuca peccati aciem tui praestringat 
ingenii et puri cordis turbet aspec- 



tuvi. Cp. also 5. 13, 26. 

10. absistat] —absit, as at 50. 23. 
uecordia] 'folly,' 'madness,' as 

often in Latin translation of O.T. 
The heart is regarded as the centre 
of thought, and the folly is that of 
leading an impure life ; cp. Prov. 
vii. 7 uecordem iuuenem, qui...prope 
uiar>i illius graditur in obscuro. 

11. terat superbiam] 32. 15. 

14. sors pro successione tticissi- 
tudineque temporis, cuius certa serie 
ac alternatione diei succedit hora 
nocturna (Clicht.). 

15 f. mundi is probably an adj. 
as at 20. 12, 98. 11: 'that kept 
clean by our abstinence we may 
sing praise to Him.' But the mean- 
ing may possibly be ' that by reason 
of our abstaining from the world we 
may....' Cp. the Oxyrhynchus Lo- 
gion 2 ia.v /li] v7i(TTev<n)T€ rbv KbcTfx.ov. 
For a gen. with abstinentia cp. 
Num. XXX. 14 ceterariim rerum ab- 
stinentiam. For the general sense 
cp. I Thess. iv. 3, v. 22. 

16. ipsi] as in 62 b. 8, 14. 



Hymn 82 

Here according to their use should come the three 
hymns ad pariias horas which are printed among the 
hymns of Ambrose : for Terce 16 Nunc sancte nobis 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LXXXII 295 

Spiritus, for Sext 17 Rector potens, uerax Deus; for 
None 18 Rerum Deus tenax uigor. 82 is found only in 
Vat. 82. In many ways it resembles 51, upon which it 
seems to be based. 

There are, it seems to me, good reasons for thinking 
that Niceta of Remesiana may have written this hymn. 
As was pointed out in the introduction to 41, Niceta 
certainly wrote some hymns, and this, as well as 41, may 
be of their number. Several words, phrases and thoughts 
in it remind us more or less strongly of passages in his 
prose writings, especially of the de Psalmodiae Bono. 

Perhaps the most striking of these resemblances is 
that between the last four lines of the hymn and de 
Psalm. Bono i, 9 (p. 67, line 4 of Burn's edition). The 
prose passage runs : tunc acceptabiles nostrae uigiliae, tunc 
pernoctatio salutaris erit, si. . .deuotione sincera ministerium 
nostrum diuinis obtutibus offeruntur. Here notice the 
similarity of thought and wording, and above all the 
unusual tunc {=^ on that condition ')...«'. 

But hardly less noteworthy is the likeness of lines 23, 
24 to several passages of Niceta, who repeatedly either 
quotes or refers to St Paul's admonition as to the neces- 
sity of attending to what is being sung, i Cor. xiv. 26. 
Thus we read p. 66. 4 qui orat spiritu, oret et mente, 
p. 69. 1 5 sicut alio loco ait : psallam spiritu psallam et 
mente. Again p. T] . 23 et iterum alibi: psallam inquit 
spiritu, psalmum dicam et tnente. Once more p. 79. 1 5 
non solum spiritu, hoc est sono uocis, sed et mente psallamus 
et ipsum quod psallimus cogitemus, ne captiuata mens 
fabidis et extraneis cogitationibus laborem habeat infructuo- 
sum. Here we have what might very well serve as a 
paraphrase of this part of the hymn. 

Then memento, used as in line 17, is one of Niceta's 
ways of drawing attention to a special point ; see Niceta 



296 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

P- 5' 3> 43' IS- I" 21 promeruit is used much as Niceta 
uses it at p. 71, 1 6 Dauid. . .carmtnum thesaurus esse pro- 
meruit. And although Niceta does not actually employ 
the vQvh praeuenire (as in line 28), he definitely expresses 
the thought of the passage at p. 18. 14 certus aute^n sum 
praeoccupatas aures et sensus alia opinione grauatos difficile 
posse placari : perniciosa est enim praeuentio. Also at 
p. 79. 17 captiuata mens fabulis et extraneis cogitatiouibus 
pretty closely reproduces the meaning of uanis praeuentus 
casibus. 

Compare too line 6 prophetae (=David) with p. 26. 2 
Dauid. . .prophetantem ; line 7 soluamus era with p. 69. 6 
ora nostra laxauit et linguas soluit; line 9 with p. 75. 16 
where Niceta quotes the same verse, Ps. cxviii. (cxix.) 
164; line 12 soluamus debitum with p. 67. 11 debitum 
soluit. In line 31 gerat is used in a rather similar sense 
to that in p. 75. 15 hanc scientiam gerens. 

The writings of Niceta were of course copied and 
studied, and it is always possible that some student of 
the de Psalmodiae Bono may have written the hymn. 
But this is much less likely. 

Vp 

Bis ternas horas explicans 
diei sol ingreditur 
ut sex idemque transigat, 
in noctis claudat aditum. 

4 auditum Vp. 

I . ' The sun having brought to transigens. The asyndeton feels 

an end six hours of the day pro- very harsh with the MS reading, 

ceeds in like manner to complete 4. In a classical writer in aditum 

other six and close it at the approach «. would mean ' towards night fall '; 

of night.' but late writers use ift with the ace. 

3. idemque] =z/^w, as sometimes very loosely ; cp. Fort. il. xvi. 142 

in late Latin; see Lofstedt Aeth. in lucent obscurus; Rdnsch 410. 

pp. 87, 295 ; Stud. 74 ; Bonnet claudat] Ambr. Hex. i. 35 prin- 

p. 3851 We should have expected cipia...diei noctis exitum claudunt. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LXXXII 297 



nos ergo nunc, confamuli, 
prophetae dicti memores 
soluamus ora in canticis 
prece mixta Dauiticis, 
ut septies diem uere 
orantes cum psalterio 
laudesque cantantes Deo 
laeti soluamus debitum. 
sic enim Christi gratia 
peccantibus dat ueniam, 
saepeque confitentibus 
non aderit mors impia. 
memento non desit tamen 
orantibus, serui Dei, 
quod Pauli uox apostoli 
seruandum praedixit nobis. 



10 



IS 



30 



14 pecantibus Vp. 

5. confamuli] vocative. Like 61 
the hymn was originally written for 
monastic use ; see line 9. 

6. prophetae] the psalmist, cp. 
line 8 and 41. 2 note. The reference 
is to Ps. cxix. 164, mentioned in the 
following stanza. 

7. BOluamus ora in c] We may 
compare Matt. xiii. 35 aperiam in 
parabolis os meum. But it is possible 
that the construction is intended to 
be sol. ora prece mixta in canticis : 
cp. Rev. viii. 7 grando et ignis mixta 
in sanguine; Hil. Hymn. i. 54 
alter qui cum sit mixtus in altero. 

9. septies] 61. 13 note. 

diem] the ace. of time within 
which ; cp. 60. 4 note. 

10. cum psalterio] Ps. xxxii. 2, 
xlviii. 5 etc. Does this imply an in- 
strumental accompaniment to the 
hjrmn? 

n. debitum] 'our debt.' Cp. 
1. 2 laudes demus debitas; 61. 16 
etc. 

13. sic] ' on this condition.' 

Cbristi gratia] 60. 4. 



1 7 momente Vp. 

15. confitentibus combines the 
idea of confessing our sins (with 
reference to orantes in 10, peccan- 
tibus in 14) and of praising God 
(with reference to 11), cp. 66. 7 
note. 

x6. aderit] =erit, 68. 13 note. 

mors impia] the opposite of 
mortis sacrae, 18. 7. 

17. memento] 26. i. Here, as it 
refers to the plu. serui, we should 
have expected numentote ; but the 
word has virtually become an inter- 
jection. Not unlike are Plaut. Po<n. 
117 caue dirumpcUis, Mil. 78 age 
eamus. For non thus used see 
47. 15. 

18. serui, the ms readmg, is a 
vocative, like confamuli in 5, serui 
66. 5 (note), proximi 66. 15. Cp. 
Ps. cxxxiv. I etc. The reading of 
Daniel etc. orantibus seruis Dei is 
taken from 60. 14. 

20. praedixit] ' declared ' =/r<»- 
dicauit. (^p. Damas. II. 16 (of 
Paul) gentibus ac populis iussus 
prcudicere uera. 



298 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

cuius uox hoc promeruit 
ut diceret idem Deo : 
orabo mente Dominum, 
orabo simul spiritu. 

ne uox sola Deo canat 25 

sensusque noster alibi 
ductus aberret fluctuans 
uanis praeuentus casibus. 

tunc enim Deo accepta est 

oratio canentium, 30 

si pura mens idem gerat 

quod explicat uox cantici. 

29 hunc Vp. 

21. promeruit] 'was permitted'; alibi] loosely used for alio, as 
cp. Damas. II. 12 Paulus . . .noscere Fort. III. x (title) cum Jluuium 
promeruit possent quod praemia alibi detorqueret. 

uitae't Nicet. de Psalmodiae Bono 4 27. fluctuans] 26. 12. 

Dauid...carminum thesaurus esse 28. uanis has a positively bad 

promeruit. Ronsch 377 gives several sense, corresponding as it does to 

examples of this use of the word, to turpibus of 51. 11. See the note on 

which add Fort. ili. vi. 31, x. vii. 74. 15. 

49, Vit. Mart. II. 66. praeuentus] 'preoccupied.' 

22. The text seems to be corrupt. casibus] 74. 11; if the meaning 
idem may have come in from 3 or of casibus there is the same. 

30, ZJ^^? from II, 18 or 25. I would 29. tunc. .si] 'only then. ..if; 

read, for idem Deo, identidem ' to Nicet. de Psalmodicu Bono 9 tunc 

the same effect,' 'in like manner' ; acceptalnles nostrae uigiliae,...sicom- 

see Ronsch p. 342, Lofstedt Aeth. petenti diligentia et deuotione sincera 

p. 295. [Perhaps a simpler emenda- ministerium nostrum diuinis obluti- 

tion would be idem duo, ' that the bus offeruntur. 

two things (voice and heart) must Deo accepta] Acts x. 35 qui 

be one.'] timet eum...acceptus est ei. 

23 f. r Cor. xiv. 15, 61. 9 f. 32. explicat] as in line i. 

26. sensus] ' mind,' ' thoughts.' 

Hymn 83 

This beautiful hymn, which asks God to protect us 
from the dangers of the coming night, has always been 
appointed for Compline, to which office its contents make 
it so suitable. In the younger hymnal it took the place 
of 61 Christe qui lux es et dies. The use of it almost 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LXXXIV 299 

unaltered continues in the modern Roman breviary. 
Lovers of Dante will remember the pathetic reference to 
it in the eighth canto of the Purgatorio. 

Abdghk EacdhjsvxM Fbdhijlpqs Gd Habcdefgi lb Macm Vabp 
Te lucis ante terminum, 
rerum creator, poscimus, 
ut solita dementia 
sis praesul ad custodiam. 
procul recedant somnia 5 

et noctium phantasmata, 
hostemque nostrum conprime 
ne poUuantur corpora, 
praesta, Pater omnipotens, 
per lesum Christum Dominum, 10 

qui tecum in perpetuum 
regnat cum sancto Spiritu. 

8 nee Ab^ Ec. 9 piissime (jrro omn.) Ab Gd. 11 perpetuo Gd. 

12 uiuit Gd. 

3. The lengthening of the o in last but one of 6 exttta sensu lubrico 
solita is the one metrical liberty in etc., and on 26. I3f., see also 86. 3. 
the hymn itself, apart from the doxo- somnia, as the context shews, means 
logy, which was no doubt added evil and corrupting dreams. 

later. Cassander suggested ut pro 6. noctium] ' of night,' 47. 1 

tua dementia and this is adopted in note. 

the Roman breviary. phantasmata] 72. 5. 

4. praesul] 13. 7 note. 7. hostem] 6. 27. 

ad custodiam] ' to guard us.' ad 8. Cp. the last stanza of 103, and 

expresses the purpose. 67. 9 foil., 61. 11 foil., 68. 13. 

5 f. The stanza is based on the 

For Advent. Hymns 84-86 

Hymn 84 
Blume {Aiialecta LI p. 47) says that the contents of 
this hymn apply less to the Advent season than those 
of 85 and 86, that perhaps 84 was not originally meant 
for Advent, and that the three hymns were certainly not 
written by the same writer, nor even at the same period. 



300 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

Eacdghjlsvx/i^ Fdhikpsx Gm/t Habcdefgh/S Ibcdefhmnov Vbcs 

Conditor altne siderum, 
aeterna lux credentium, 
Christe redemptor omnium, 
exaudi preces supplicum ; 

qui, condolens interitu 5 

mortis perire saeculum, 
saluasti mundum languidum, 
donans reis remediura, 

uergente mundi uespere, 

uti sponsus de thalamo, lo 

egressus honestissima 

uirginis matris clausula. 

5 interitnm Exyu Ihn. 8 rei Fs^ Vs, regis Ehx*, eis Ic, ei Idn^. 

9 uesperi Hd^, uespera Egl Fx Ha Vb. lo ut Vb, sicut El. e {pro 

de) E0. 1 1 ingressus Ec Vb, ingressu Ha. honestissimo Hagh Vb, 

-me Fs Hbcd'ef Vs. 1 2 clausulam Fx Vb, clausulo Hgh. 

1. sldernm] the heavenly bodies, 104. 4, 120. 28. This use of the 
including the sun and moon. The word is not found before Martial : 
word strikes the keynote of the till then it meant 'languid,' 'weary.' 
hymn, forecasting the light which 9. ' When the world's evening 
Christ, Himself the eternal light, was drawing to a close,' Heb. ix. 20. 
was to bring into the world : cp. In meaning the line may be com- 
85. 5 inlumina, 86. 7. pared with 33. 10, 85. 4, 114. 4; in 

2. aeterna lax] Ambr. in Luc. form with 69. 5. The rhyme is so 
II. 12 ei ipse lux uera et getiitor consistently carried through the 
lucis aetemae. hymn as to make it almost certain 

3. =87. I. that the original reading in 9 was 
5 f. Mone found in a XlVth uespero, which was changed to 

cent. MS of Lichtenthal what he uespere or uespera, as being a most 
believed to be the original of this unusual form in the sense of ' even- 
stanza. Qui condolens hominitus \ ing.' But uesperum (103. 6, 105. 5) 
mortis subiectis legiius \ fcictus homo justifies an al)l. uespero, though we 
restituis \ uitam in tuo sanguine; need not think of a nom. uespems 
also [4 f. omnium \ cculestium, ter- in this sense. 

restrium \ nee tion et infemcUiurn; 10. From Ps. xix. 5; cp. 6. 17, 

and 24 quamdiu sumus aduenae, 88. 7. 

These readings are said (Julian 12. clausula] Cp. claustrum 6. 

p. 257) to be those of the Cistercian 14, 39. 4. This use of the word ap- 

breviary, but Lipp knows them not. pears to be wholly without parallel, 

5. condolens] 33. 4. unless it be in a passage of Gildas, 

interitu mortis] Cp. 23. i note. quoted in the Thesaurus, where it 

7. langniidum] 'sick,' Mt. xiv. =cella. 

14 curauit languidos eorum, 93. 12, 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LXXXIV. 301 



cuius forti potentiae 

genu curuantur omnia 

caelestia, terrestria, ' 15 

nutu fatentur subdita, 

occasum sof custodiens, 
luna pallorem retinens, 
candor in astris relucens 

13 fortis Ev lb. 14 curuatur Eal Hb Id, curuantes Ej Ha, flectuntur 
Es Fh He' Im, flectentes E/i H/3, flectentur Fx. omnium Ealv Iv. 
16 fatentur nutu Ecdv(^ Fi. 19 elucens Ha. 



I3f. 'To whose mighty power 
all things in heaven and earth bow 
the knee and confess that they are 
subject to Thy sway.' The passage 
is based upon Phil. ii. 10, cp. Rom. 
xiv. II, Is. xlv. 23 mihi curuabitur 
omne genu. The Mozarabic Easter 
Illation has the phrase Tibi genua 
curuant caelestia, terrestria et in- 
ferna. In our Lord's time standing 
was the usual attitude of prayer 
(Mk xi. 25, Lk. xviii. 11, 13) ; but, 
perhaps from His example (Lk. 
xxii. ^i), kneeling soon was the pre- 
vailing custom ; Acts vii. 60, ix. 40, 
XX. 36, xxi. 5, Herm. Pastor Vis. I. 
3 TidQs Toi •^bvo.To. KoX rjp^afiijv rrpoaev- 
Xecr^ai r^ Kvplc^ : cp. Dressel on Prud. 
Cath. II. 51 rogare curuato genu. 

13. forti] 'mighty,' cp. 111. 5. 
Lbfstedt Aeth. 161 f. gives several 
examples of this use of the word, 
which comes from conversational 
Latin. Not unlike isy^^/'/V^r 41. 17. 

14. curuantur either governs^^«M 
as at 34. 5 confixa is followed by 
uiscera, or genu must be taken as 
an abl. ' on bended knee. ' 

16. nutu] dative, nutus lit. 
means ' a nod,' hence ' the beck and 
call ' of a superior ; cp. Verg. Aen. 
VII. 592 nutu lunonis eunt res, 

fatentur] supply se esse, which 
words can be omitted almost at 
will in late Latin poetry. See 
Lofstedt Spdtlateinische Studien p. 
44. However, the word may here 
be taken absolutely, or with poten- 



tiae, as in the passage of Rom. 

1 7 f. BOl, luna, candor are in 
apposition to caelestia in 15. 

The sun, moon and stars are 
mentioned as obeying the divine 
will. Ps. ciii. (civ.) 19, Ambr. Hex. 
IV. 7 sol debitum sibi agnouit occa- 
sum ;... luna... quae temporum uici- 
bus oboedire conpellitur; in Ps. 
cxviii. xii. 9 numquid ulla in ipso 
est sole praeuaricatio. nonne cotti- 
dianos curs us suos seruat? numquid 
continues nouit luna defectus et com- 
missi munus deserit ministerii? is- 
dem nempe uicibus annus redit...sol 
diem inluminat, tempera statuta 
custodiens. fulget splendoribus luna 
tiocturnis...stellarum nitentium ru- 
tilat globus... lex una diuersis, con- 
stitutorum semel uices cursuum cus- 
todire. . . titui omnium oboedientia. See 
the introduction to 2, and the second 
stanza of 69. The stanza is omitted 
in several MSB, perhaps because the 
copyists did not see its connexion 
with the preceding one. 

pallorem ret.] retinere here 
seems to mean 'restraining,' 'with- 
holding her pale light,' i.e. only 
shewing it at the appointed seasons ; 
unless pallor is intended to mean, 
as elsewhere, the gloom and colour- 
lessness of night (see 22. 2), which 
the moon 'restrains' from becoming 
absolute darkness. 

19. 'The brightness shining in 
the stars,' i.e. the brightly shining 
stars. 



302 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

certos obseruans limites. 20 

te deprecamur, hagie, 
uenture iudex saeculi, 
conserua nos in tempore 
hostis a telo perfidi. 

laus, honor, uirtus, gloria 25 

Deo Patri cum Filio 
sancto simul Paraclito 
in sempiterna saecula. 

20 obseruant Fdpx Hbd VsS obseruat Ed^x/t Fi Hf Ih Vs^, obsemet G/i. 
22 uenturi Ed. 23 hoc {pro in) Ic. 24 noctis E/tt Fi Hbd'gh/3 Imv 
Vb (notis Ha), perfidis EI. 26 et {procwm) Eahv0 Inv Vc. 27 una 
cum sancto spiritu Hae^ In Vc, simul cum s. s. Ehlvx^ 

21. hagle] 41. 49. read noctis for hostis in 24, in which 

22. Cp. 48. 3. case we must join tempore noctis, 

23. in tempore] ' at the present with which cp. 103. 8. 
time' = /« ipso tempore of 55. 39. 24. a telo] 45. i6f., 58.8. 
But it is just possible that we should 

Hymn 85 

Mone I. p. 49 says that this hymn was probably 
written in the second half of the Vth century ; but this 
is too early a date. The rhyme carried throughout 
points rather to Vllth or Vlllth centuries. 

Eacdhjlsvx?;^ Fdhiks Gabm Hbcdefgh Ibcdefhmnopv Makx Vcs 

Verbum supernum prodiens, 

a Patre olim exiens, 

I supremum He. 

I. 'OWord that proceedest forth writer of 84. 9 — the N.T. view that 

on high.' No doubt the poet had in the incarnation came in the end of 

mind the great anthem O sapientia, the world's history (lines 3, 4). In 

quae ex ore altissimi prodiistijVdiVen comparison with this event, the 

from Ecclus. xxiv. 5. supernum is eternal existence of the Word with 

part of the predicate, so to speak. the Father (lines i, 2) is denoted as 

Unless it be taken closely along with what was olim. Line 2 interprets 

prodiens, the exiens clause is mere line i, pointing out the source from 

tautology, and/r^d'iVwjitself is rather which the Word proceeds on high, 

unmeaning without some qualifica- For such a pres. part, as prodiens, 

tion. The writer still takes — like the exiens joined with olim, see Hebr. i. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LXXXV 303 



qui natus orbi subuenis 

cursu decliui temporis ; 

inlumina nunc pectora 5 

tuoque amore concrema, 

audita ut praeconia 

sint pulsa tandem lubrica. 

iudexque cum post aderis 

rimari facta pectoris, 10 

reddens uicem pro abditis 

iustisque regnum pro bonis : 

3 orbis Fi Gab Hd Ino. subueni Eh/x Ic. 5 tunc lb. 7 audito... 
praeconio Ecdl Fks'^ Hd-e^ lb Vc. 9 qui (pro que) Hgh. adueneris 

{pro post ad.) Mk. aderit Hb. 10 rimare Gab' Mk. 



I olim Deiis loquens patribus. olim 
is very frequently thus used of a 
remote past compared with a sub- 
sequent event which has wrought a 
change; cp. Dirksen .f-z/. 

It is possible to make line i refer 
to the eternal generation and line 2 
to the incarnation, — line 2 thus 
forming substantially part of the 
relative cause qui natus; but the 
difficulty of <?//w as contemporaneous 
with cursu decliui temp, would re- 
main, besides making the stanza 
rather badly balanced. 

This fine exordium supplied 
Thomas Aquinas with the beginning 
of one of his famous eucharistic 
hymns. But he probably mistook 
the meaning of the line. 

4. decliui] lit. ' sloping ' towards 
evening, as if the sun were past his 
zenith, cp. Jud. xix. 9 dies ad oc- 
casum decliuior. The age is com- 
pared to a day as at 84. 9. 

6 f. The sense may be ' and warm 
them with love of Thee.' But it 
may be 'and in Thy love burn them 
up,' which fits in better with the 
usual meaning of concrema \ cp. 108. 
19 Deus concremans, 69. 10 adure ; 
Fort. IV. vii. 17 cautere eloquii 
bene purgans uulnera morbi; Ambr. 
in Luc. V. 27 omne mandatum tuum 
si cut cauterium inpressuin tenebo. 



eisi urit cauterium mandolin tamen 
putrefcuta camisexuril, neaduiuum 
serpat contagio. 

7. audita... praeconia] i.e. when 
Thy coming is proclaimed as it were 
by a herald {praeco). The words are 
in the nom. or ace. abs. (see 69. 7), 
which construction was not under- 
stood by the later copyists, who 
wrote per for ut, or audito... prae- 
conio, to the wreck of the rhyme. 

8. tandem strongly emphasizes 
pulsa, being inserted instandi causa, 
as Quint. IX. 27 puts it; cp. its use 94. 
31, 103. 18 and that oi demum in 13. 

lubrica] 3. 12 note. 

9. post] ' hereafter,' as at 23. 3. 
Notice the four notes of time, olim, 
natus cursu decl. temp., nunc, post. 

10. rimari] 24. 20. The infin. 
stands instead of rimaturus or ut 
rimeris. 

1 1 . reddens uicem] 60. 1 9 note, 
abditis may mean merely the 

secret doings of each one known 
only to God, but as contrasted with 
bonis in 1 2 it seems to have gained 
some of the sinister %GX\scoiobscurus, 
cp. 22. 8, 67. II, 86. 2. 

pro] 'according to,' 'in propor- 
tion to,' as at Plaut. Trin. 26 ami- 
cum meum \ concastigabo pro con- 
merita noxia. 

12. Mt. XXV. 34. 



304 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

non demum artemur malis 

pro qualitate criminis, 

sed cum beatis compotes 15 

simus perennes caelibes. 

13 demnes Gab^ Mak, damnis E^ Hcd^fgh lop, des ut Ea. arcemur 
Ec. 15 compotens Ic. 16 simul Eh. perenne Fs Icm Vcs (-ni Ec 

Ga Ip). 

1 3 f. ' Oh let us not be punished Capt. 30 1 fortuna humana fingit 

according to the heinousness of our artatque ut lubet ; often in late 

guilt.' demum qualifies the prayer, Latin, cp. Ps. Cypr. de Sing. Cler, 9 

much like tandem in 8. As to the quts tarn stultus qui artari cupit ad 

variant demnes Blume suggests that laborem ; Victor Vitens. i. 28 dum 

it may perhaps be the original, used uariis ab eis insidiis artaretur, in. 

as the positive from which comes 22 artata poenis. The Vulgate of 

indemnes (indemnati), and that it Lk. xii. 50, Phil. i. 23 has coartare, 

may mean ' condemned ' in contrast 15. compotes] The word is usually 

with beatis in 15. The more colour- followed by a gen. to express that 

less demum and the damnis of the which has been attained ; thus we 

Rheinau MSS would be the correc- have 114. 1 5 uoti compotes. Here it 

tions of the lectio difficilior ; see means much the same, ' of the 

Analecta xxvii. p. 65. If so, the numberofthose who have obtained.' 

writer must have coined the word, C^.1A\.\.\.'! multitudine compotum. 

and coined it incorrectly. It occurs 16. perennes] an instance of the 

nowhere else. adverbial use of an adj. 

axtare is thus used by Plaut. caelibes] 62. 30 note. 

Hymn 86 

This hymn was generally appointed for Mattins in 
Advent, but according to date and locality its use varied. 
Thus in the Mozarabic breviary it was sung at Vespers 
on the Wednesday infra hebdontadam I Aduetitus 
{Analecta XXVII. p. 65). It is largely based on the 
Advent Epistle Rom. xiii. 1 1 f. and Gospel Lk. xxi. 25 f. 

Eacdhjlsvx/t^ Fdhikpsx Gabm Hbcdefgh Icdefghmnopv Makx Vcs 

Vox clara ecce intonat, 
obscura quaeque increpat, 

1 . The voice is that of the Bap- quaeque is very common in the later 
tist, the forerunner of Christ, Joh. Latin : see e.g. Vine. Ler. Comm. 
i. 23. I necessaria quaeque, with Moxon's 

intonat] 'resounds loudly' as at note; Niceta de Psalm. Botto 3 as- 
111. 2, 116. 10, and perhaps 19. pera quaeque. 

2, Obscura] 22. 8. This use of increpat] 2. 19. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LXXXVI 305 

pellantur eminus somnia, 
ab aethre Christus promicat. 

mens iam resurgat torpida, 5 

quae sorde exstat saucia ; 
sidus refulget iam nouum, 
ut tollat omne noxium. 

e sursum agnus mittitur 

laxare gratis debitum ; 10 

omnes pro indulgentia 

uocem demus cum lacrimis ; 

secundo ut cum fulserit 

mundumque horror cinxerit, 

non pro reatu puniat, 15 

sed pius nos tunc protegat. 

3 pellat Ecd^hj Gm. omnia Fx Hd Id'm Mk, omnium Es. 4 aethra 
E/t Hb-, aethere Edj0 Fdp Gab* He^ Inp Mk Vc. 9 et [pro e) Em. 

sursus Es. 1 1 -tiam E/*. 16 nos pius Fs Gm Hbcdgh Idmopv 

Vs, nos sed p. Mak, sed p. tunc nos Eju. 

3. eminus is to be scanned as if here intended. 

emnus ; as aethere in 4 is actually ag^us] because the title was used 

written aethre, so also at Hil. Carm. by John the Baptist. 

in Gen. 65. 10. lazaxe is used instead of the 

6. exstat] =est, cp. 38. 18. usual soluere, as at 94. 29. The inf. 
saueia] 80. 6. is used to express purpose as at 66. 

7. sidus] i.e. Christ. The refer- 4 etc. 

ence may be to Mai. iv. 2, or to the debitum] 44b. 11. 

' Morning Star' of Rev. xxii. 16. So i{. pro indulgentia] 'for pardon.' 

Prud. Cath. xii. ijf. hoc sidus aeter- This curious use of pro seems to be 

nuin manet, \ haec stella ntimquam an extension of its use in phrases 

mergitur\ Ambr. in Luc. 11. ^-^ stella like non pro illo dico ut roget quis, 

hcuc uia est et uia Christus, quia i Joh. v. 16. 

secundum incarnationis mysterium u. Cp. 20. 10 note. 

Christus est stella. 1 3 f. Cp. the last stanza of 80 

8. noxium] 'guilt,' cp. 22. 12 and of 113. 

note. The word answers to lubrica secundo] ' for the second time,' 

at 85. 8. With tollat cp. John i. 29. used with reference to line 7. 

9. e sursTun] 'from on high.' 15. pro reatu] 'according to our 
sursum {from sub-uorsuni) strictly guilt,' 86. 14. 

means ' upwards,' as at 36. 46, 16. pius] In such contexts the 

113. 23, so that the phrase is not word /i«j (/tV/oj) has nearly reached 

correct; cp. Ronsch p. 233. It is the sense of /«V«', 'pity.' 
of course the ' first advent ' that is 

w. JO 



3oO • EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 



For Christmas. Hymn 87 

~ Christmas has naturally been a fertile subject for 
Christian poets to work upon ; and yet but few of our 
anonymous hymns were written for the season in these 
early times. It may well be that the excellence and wide 
use of Ambrose's Intende qui regis Israhel (No. 6), as 
also of Corde nattis ex parentis (23), of A solis ortus cardine 
(31) and of Agnoscat omne saeculum (38), daunted 
would-be writers. 

The rubric of 87 in the several MSS is de natale 
{natiuitate) domini, and then either ad nocturnas or 
ad mat. 

Daniel Thes. I. p. 79 says that hymn 87 is rarely found 
in old hymnals : which is certainly not correct. Most 
MSS from the Xth century on contain it, and as it does 
not belong to the earlier series we cannot expect to find 
it in the earliest MSS. 

The general doxology of the Christmas hymns is 
Gloria tibi dornine qui natus es de uirgine cum patre et 
sancto spiritu in sempiterna saecula. But in many hymnals 
is given the alternative : Laus honor etc., as in 84. 

Eacdhjlsvxjj/i^ Fbdhilmps Gm Hbcdfg Ibcdefghmnopv Vces 

Christe, redemptor omnium, 
ex Patre, Patris unice, 
solus ante principium 
natus ineffabiliter, 

I gentium lb. 

1. =84.3. The same line is also Creed yevvifdivra ix toC varpoi 
the first of a rather later hymn for /xovoyevrj, Tovriariy ^k rrjs oixrlai 
All Saints, Analecta LI. p. 150. rod iraTp6s. 

2. ex Fatre, joined with Patris . 3. ante principimii] 1. 8, 23. i. 
unice, seems intended to emphasize There is a reference to Gen. i. i in 
the doctrine of the (truly) Nicene principio creauit Deus caelum et 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LXXXVII 307 

tu lumen, tu splendor Patris, 5 

tu spas perennis omnium, 

intende quas fundunt preces 

tui per orbem famuli. 

memento, salutis auctor, 

quod nostri quondam corporis 10 

ex inlibata uirgine 

nascendo formam sutnpseris. 

hie praesens testatur dies 

currens per anni circulum 

quod solus a sede Patris 15 

mundi salus adueneris. 

hunc caelum, terra, hunc mare, 
hunc omne quod in eis est, 

8 tuis Hd. famulis Ec Hbd'. 12 suinpserit Ec Fs Vs', sumpseras 

Ha. 13 sic Ev Ih, hoc He*. 16 aduenerit Ec Fs Ibd'h, adueneras 

Hceg lop. 17 te Id'*, hinc c. Ex^ Fs' Hefg Vs. terrae Ec. hinc m. 

Ex0 Fi Heg Vs. maria {pro hunc mare) Gm. 18 hinc Fs Vs. 

17, 18 pro hunc Es hiatumhabet. 

ferram; perhaps still more to the praesens... dies] 8. 8. 

isimonsVxow. y'm. 12 Dominus pos- 14. per appears to have the kind 

sedii me in initio uiarum suarum, of distributive sense which it has ac- 

antequam quidqiiatn faceret a prin- quired in our modern per annum . 
cipio. 1 5 f. ' that Thou alone didst come 

4. ineffabiliter] Cp. Aug. En- to be the salvation of the world....' 
chir. 89 Deus ineffabiliter artifex ; St Peter's words are almost repro- 
Fort. III. ix. 49 inredtabiliter ma- duced, Acts iv. 12 et tion est in alio 
natis de corde parentis. aliquo salus. This is simpler and 

5. Cp. 3. I f. better than Clicht.'s explanation of 

9. memento] Hil. Hymn. 11. 42 the passage solus aduenisse dicitur 
memento carnis, in qua natus es, Christus, quoniam solus ipse per in- 
meae. carnationem humanam indtiit tut- 

salutis auctor] Heb. ii. 10. turam ; neque enim Pater incar- 

10. quod...8ump8eri8] —te sump- natus est, neque Spiritus sanctus. 
sisse, and 15 quod...adueneris = te i7f. 'This day heaven, earth, 
adtunisse; Ronsch p. 402, 481. sea, and all that is in them praise, 

corporis... formam] 23. 9, 42. 11, exulting with song at the advent of 

cp. 89. 6. their creator.' The two lines 17 and 

13. ' This present day (Christmas) 18 are based upon Ps. xcv. (xcvi.) 
recurring in the year's cycle.' Pos- 11. The variants hinc and te for 
sibly the writer thought of the year hunc (sc. diem) are due to the copy- 
as describing a circle as it goes ists not seeing what hunc referred 
round, and carrying the day along to. 
with it. 



3o8 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

auctoris aduentu sui 

laudat exultans cantico. 20 

nos quoque, qui sancto tuo 

redempti sanguine sumus, 

ob diem natalis tui 

hymnum nouum concinimus. 

19 auctorem EIvm Fbhps Hd Ibdhmpv Vcs. aduentum Ex Hg lo, 
aduentus Eacd^u Fbhlps Lbdhmpv Vcs. tui Elv/x Fh He Ibd%mv. 
20 laudans E^ Hg. exultat Ec<^ Hg. laudas exultas lb. coUaudans 
canit Fs Hbcd Icdn Vcs. canticum Id% Vc. 22 sumus sanguine 

Eacdlvx^ Hfe2 Ibho. 

20. cantico] Cp. 66. 8. 24. bynmuin nouum] Fs. xxxii. 

21. a quotation from the Te (xxxiii.) 3, xxxix. (xl.) 4, xcv. 
Deunt. (xcvi.) i. 

For the B. V. Mary. Hymn 88 

88 is a fragment of an alphabetic hymn, the" rest of 
which is lost to us. For an attempt to supply some of 
the missing stanzas see Daniel IV. 58 f. and Analecta 
XX VII. p. II 8 f. The Benedictine edd. of Ambrose 
wrongly assigned it to him on the insufficient evidence 
of Pseudo-Ildephonsus. Chevalier Repertorium 62,46 notes 
the various uses of the hymn thus B" Maria, Purificatio 
{Conceptio, Annuntiatio, Visitatio, Compassio, Assuniptio\ 
Aduentus, Natiicitas Dom. fer. IV.). hie^n. completorium 
{uesperae, matutinujn, laudes); cp. Werner p. 61. In the 
Mozarabic use, to judge by the rubric in Cod. Matrit. 
1005 Hh 60 : in alia festiuitate non dicitur, this hymn 
was sung only in die sanctae Mariae. 

Edhvx0 Fbips Habcdefgh Icdfho Mkx Vcs 

Fit porta Christi peruia 

referta plena gratia, 

2 refecta Mk. 

I. porta] Ezek. xliv. 2 f. Cp. 39. 2. referta plena] ' filled (so as to 

89 f. be) full ' ; Cic. Acad. I. iv. i"] plena 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN LXXXIX 309 

transitque rex, et permanet 
clausa, ut fuit, per saecula. 

Genus superni numinis 5 

processit aula uirginis, 
sponsus, redemptor, conditor, 
suae gigans ecclesiae. 

Honor matris et gaudium, 

inmensa spes credentium, 10 

per atra mortis pocula 

resoluit nostra crimina. 

5 supernum E^. luminis Ex Fi Ih. 6 praec. Fb. 9 gaudia lo Mk. 

et referta. Probably referla p. gr. is aiidax lapeti gettus. 

the subject of/f/ — 'She (or a maiden) 6. aula] an allusion to 6. 18, as 

filled... is made the gate.' Probably Sire sponsus &nA gigans. 

some reference to her had occurred 9. honor] 'He who is the glory.' 

in the previous stanza. 10. spes cr.] Cp. 18. 22. 

4. 6. 14 note, 84. 12. it. pocula] Cp. Matt. xxvi. 38 

5. genus] 'the Son,' as in Horace's {calix). 

For the Epiphany. Hymn 89 

This is again an alphabetical hymn; see introduction 
to 71. Chevalier Repertorium 14 gives the Xth century 
as the date of its composition, which is no doubt too 
late. He says that it was an Epiphany hymn, but this 
was by no means always the case. In some uses it was 
sung at Christmas (see Werner p. 9); while, according 
to Blume {Analecta xxvn. p. ^\ its Mozarabic use was 
infra hebdomadam 2 aduentus, feria 2 ad uesp. The 
doxology varied according to the season. When sung at 
Christmas this was Gloria tibi domine qui natus es de 
uirgine etc. (see introduction to 87). When sung in the 
Epiphany it was generally Gloria tibi domine qui lotus 
es influmine. 



3ip EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

Ecdhjvx Fdips Gm Hbch Ibh Mmx Vs 

A Patre unigenitus 

Ad nos uenit per uirginem, 

Baptisma cruce consecrans, 

Cunctos fideles generans. 

De caelo celsus prodiit, 5 

Excepit fortnam hominis, 

Facturam morte redimens, 

Gaudia uitae largiens. 

Hoc te, redemptor, quaesumus 

Inlabere propitius, lo 

Klarumque nostris sensibus 

Lumen praebe fidelibus. 

Mane nobiscum, Domine, 

Noctem obscuram remoue, 

Omne delictum ablue, 15 

Piam medellam tribue. 

I unigenite Mx. 2 uenis Mx. 3 baptismo Fs. crucem Ec Gm. 

baptismi rore Mx. 4 fide regen. Mx. 5 e caelo- Hb. prodiens Gm 

Mx. . 7 factura Ec Gm. mortis Ec, mortem Mm. consequens Hb. 

uictor a morte rediens Mx. 8 uita rediens Gm. r i cordibus 

Ev Fi Gm Hb Mx. 12 deificum {pro fid.) Mx. 14 remouens Gm. 

16 pie Ex Hb Ibh. 

I. Blume Analecta xxvil. 66 opus Dei et factura eius et plastica 

follows the Mozarabic printed bre- adulterari nullo modo debeat, and 

viary in reading unigenite... uenis, in Iren. xxiv. i, Tert. de An. 4. 

which suits the rhyme, but not the 10. inlabere] 3. 5 note, and nos- 

grammar of 5 f. iris s. 3. 8. 

3. Ambr. de Myst. 20 'quid est 11. It may be questioned whether 

enini aqua sine cruce Christi ? 33. fidelibus is epithet to sensibus {^ ovlx 

10 note. faithful thoughts'), or whether «. s. 

5. (i€is\i3i\ = AltissimuSf — an un- is governed by A7arKW, and yf^. by 
usual use of the word. praebe. 

prodiit] ' came forth ' into the 1 3. Lk. xxiv. 29 mane nobiscum 

world, 3. 30, 33. 12. quoniam aduesperascit. 

6. formam] 42. ii» 87. 12: of 14. n. obscuram] 22. 8. 
course a reference to Phil. ii. 7. 15. delictum] 7. 26 note. 

7. facturam] 'His creation '= 16. piam] 'loving,' 'gracious,' 
quod condidit of 31. 8. Cp. Sedul. should strictly qualify the giver 
Carm. II stia ne factura periret. rather than the gift, as was felt by 
In this concrete sense factura is the copyists who wrote pie. 

used by Cypr. de Hab. Virg. 15 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN XC 311 

Quern iam uenisse nouimus, 

Redire item credimus, 

Sceptrum tuum incHtum 

Tuo defende clipeo. 20 

Vita, salus, et ueritas, 
Christe, rogantes adiuua ; 
Ymnum sonantes iubilo 
Zelum uincamus lubricum. 

19 sceptrumque Ex Fds Hb Ih Mx, sc. tuumque Gm, tu sc. tuum Ecdv 
Fp He Mm. ^o tuutn...clipeum Gm. 21-34 "* ^'^ ^"^^ 

reperiuntitr. 

18. redire... credimus] 42. 19 and the Church. 

note. 20. 2 Sam. xxii. 36, Ps. v. 13, 

19. The line as it stands is pro- Prov. xxx. 5. 

bably the original, sceptrum being 21 f. These four lines are found 

pronounced as w«/)/fMw, see 42. 33. only in the printed Mozar. brev. 

But sceptrum [tu\ tuum is possible, and may have been added by the 

as the tu would easily fall out before editor Ortiz, who seems to have 

tuum. God's 'glorious sceptre' had freely edited the rest of the hymn; 

been Israel ; cp. Jer. li. 19 Israel see Analecta xxvii. p. 66 and cp. 

sceptrum hereditatis eius; Lam. ii. i 31. 85 note. 
terram. inclitam Israel. Now it is 

Hymn 90 

The use of this hymn varies between Vespers and 
Nocturn in Epiphany, it being in itself suitable to either 
office. Mone I. 78 thinks that the alliteration shews it to 
have been written by an Irish or Anglo-Saxon poet; but 
is this sufficiently marked to demand such a conclusion? 
The recurrence of Greek words in 4, 13, 20, 23 f. etc. is 
remarkable. It is rhymed throughout, being in this 
respect like 84, 85 and others. Daniel owing to a mis- 
reading of a note of Thomasius assigns it without 
grounds to Hilary of Poitiers; cp. Analecta XXVII. 49 f. 
Pimont I. p. 92 f. energetically but unsuccessfully main- 
tains the authorship of Hilary, which is stated as if a 
certainty by Chevalier. 



312 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

Ecdhjvx^ Fils Gms Hbcdf Icdfhn Vcs 

lesus refulsit omnium 

pius redemptor gentium; 

totum genus fidelium 

laudes celebret dramatum. 

quem Stella natum fulgida 5 

monstrat micans in aethera, 

magosque duxit praeuia 

ipsius ad cunabula. 

illi cadentes paruulum 

pannis adorant obsitum, 10 

uerum fatentur et Deum 

munus ferendo mysticum. 

denum ter annorum cyclis 

iam parte uiuens corporis 

4 celebrat Ec He. 6 monstrans Gm Idhn. micat Gm Idh. aethere 
Vc. 8 illius Gm. 13 denis Ecdv. ciclus Hd. 14 partem Ih. 

uigens Ed. 

I. omnium... g.] In reference to clothed in rags,' 33. 14 note, 

the manifestation to the Gentiles : Though panni need not necessarily 

totttm g. likewise. mean rags, that sense points the 

4. dramatum] ' of His deeds.' contrast between the real glory and 
The Lat. drama, as well as its the apparent poverty. Juvencus, 
Greek orig. 5/)a/;ia, usually meant an though he does not use the word 
action represented on the stage, ' a panni, echoes the general sense 
drama.' I. xt^d ptteritm ueteri cunatula texiu 

5. As to the brilliance of the inuoluunt, duroque datur praesepe 
star seen by the magi cp. Ignat. cubili. 

Eph. XIX dffTTjp iv ovpay(f ^\a/i\f/ev ii f. an echo of 31. 36 Deum 

XTK^p Trd^raj tous diaT4pa,s, koI to <f>G3s fatentur niunere. 

aiiTov a.veK\6.\7)Tov riv...Ta bk \oiira. 12. munu8...mysticum] referring 

■K&vra AffTpa afia •^Xi^ KO-i ffeXiivg to the frankincense in particular ; 

Xopbs iyivtTo T(f dtrripi' aiirbi de see 1. 15 note. 

^v virep^dWuu to <j>Qs a&rou vv^p 13. 'having now lived a bodily 

irdvTa : Prud. Catk. xil. 5 Aaec life for thirty years.' denum is of 

Stella, quae soils rotam \ uituit de- course the short form of denorum. 

core ac lumine. cyclis is the abl. of duration of 

6. in aethera] 'in the sky.' So time, cp. Paul. Nol. Carm. xix. 
Fort. XI. i. 25, Vit. Mart. I. 290 in 285 paucis quos corpore uiueret 
aera = in acre; vp.Z'i. \%x\q\.q. The annis ; 1. 66 note. 

declension of this word was a con- 14. parte... corporis, 'in respect 

stant difficulty to Latin writers. of His body, ' is like tempus corporis, 

7 f. Cp. 8. 9 f , 31. 33 f. 33. 16; cp. Ambr. in Luc, i. 36 post 

10. pannis... obsitum] 'though triennium nostri corporis. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN XC 313 

lympham petit baptismatis 15 

cunctis carens contagiis. 

felix lohannes mergere 

ilium tremescit flumine, 

potens suo qui sanguine 

peccata cosmi tergere. 20 

uox ergo prolem de polis 

testatur excelsi Patris, 

uirtus adestque Pneumatis 

sancti datrix charismatis. 

nos, Christe, supplici prece 25 

precamur, omnes protege, 

qui praecipis rubescere 

potenter hydrias aquae. 

praesta benignum sedulo 

solamen adiutorio, 30 

raptosque nos a tartaro 

regnare fac tecum polo. 
15 baptismate Hd. 19 potest Ex Fs In Vcs. 20 tangere Ev. 

21 uos Fs, nox Vs. 23 adestoqueGm. 24 secli Ev. 25 subnixa 

Ex^ Ih. 26 omnes prec. Hd. protege omnes Ev. 29 l^enignus Vs. 

sedulus Ec. 31 e Ex Vc. 

16. For the sense cp. 91. 21, ergo is used, rather like our ' so ' 
Sedul. Carm. 11. 158 f. in se cuncta or ' then ' and sometimes the Greek 
lattat noslrae contagia uiiae \ ipse ydp, without any causal or inferen- 
ni/ii/ quod perdat habens, sane toque tial force, cp. 27. 21, 33. 10, Sedul. 
Uquetites \ corpore niundauit latices. Op. II. 13 euangelicae lectionis ergo 

17. mergere... tremescit] ' trem- textus ita prosequitur. 

bles at ('shrinks from') dipping.' 23. -que follows the second word 

For the inf. cp. Schmalz p. 423. of its clause, as at 34. 24. 

19. potens] ^j/, like 76. 7. 24. charismatis] = xa^f'^Ataroi, i 

20. cosmi] Walahfrid Strabo Cor. xii. 7 f., 31, 101. 9, 106. 13. 
Lxxxiii. 8 morte deuicta superastis 27. rubescere] 8. 17 note. 
arma \ hostis antiqui trucis atque 28. potenter] 68. 2. 

cosmi I carnis agone. The word is 30. adiutorio] 'aid,' Ps. vii. 11 

taken from John i. 29. and often in Vulgate. 

21. ' Then the voice of the most 31. tartaro] 23. 1 1 note. 

high Father from heaven bears wit- 32. regnare] 2 Tim. ii. 12, Rev. 

ness to the Son,' i.e. that Christ is xx. 14. 

His son. Cp. Sedul. Carm. III. The doxology found, I believe, in 

291 f. sidereoque sono '^ metis hie est all the Mss isZa»/J Trinitati debita\ 

Filius ' aiens | ostettdit uerbo genitutn honor potesias gloria \ perenniter sit 

uox patria Christum. omnia \ per scuculorum saecula. 



114 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

V Hymn 91 

Although it is handed down in but four MSS — of 
which one is only a copy of another — this hymn is 
certainly ancient. Mone I. 77 dates it in the Vth 
century, which is probably a little too early. And 
Daniel IV. 1 1 is surely wrong when he says that it and 
not 8 was written by Ambrose, thus making it earlier 
than Ambrose's Epiphany hymn, 8 Inlnminans altis- 
simus. This he does because 91 does not mention the 
visit of the magi among the Epiphany signs. This is 
indeed somewhat remarkable ; but what events should 
be commemorated at the festival was for a long time 
not definitely fixed, nor in what order they should stand. 
With regard to this see p. 63. This hymn seems to have 
been written later than the hymn of Sedulius 31, phrases 
of which have been caught up. 

Fs/3 Ga Vs 
Inluxit orbi iam dies 
corusca tot miraculis, 
in quo recurso tempore 
signis Deus se prodidit. 

mitis, benignus arbiter 5 

haec cuncta fecit prouide, 
humana gens ne falleret 
sed se colendum crederet. 

2 coruscans Fs Vs, coruscat Ga. 3 decursu temporis Fs Vs. 

4 se deus Fy3. 7 mens Fs Vs. 

I. inluzit is a favourite word 3. recurso] ' in which recurring 

with which to begin a hymn. Che- season,' cp. decursa, 106. 5 ; see note 

valier cites 12 hymns commencing there. 

with this word ; cp. Verg. Georg.w. 4. signis] 1. 20 note. It is a 

337 inluxisse diem, Fort. m. viii. i reference to John ii. 11 manifestauit 

inluxit festiua dies, 112. 2. But gloriam suani. 

here it has a special appropriateness, 5. arbiter] 32. 31. 

like Ambrose's illuminans, on a 6. prouide] 39. 23. 

festival which was sometimes called 7. ne falleret] ' might not go 

the Feast of Lights. wrong.' The yioxdfallo is probably 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN X CI 315 



,rogatus est ad nuptias, 
aqua repleuit hydrias ; 
sermone Christi concite 
mutauit unda originem. 

stupent fluenta gignere 
natura quae non contulit ; 
pallor ruborem parturit 
et uina currunt flumine. 

lohanne Baptista sacro 
implente munus debitum, 
lordane mersus hac die 
aquas lauando diluit, 



10 



«S 



20 



II sermones sui Fs Vs. 14 contigit Fs Vs. 16 uicina Fs 

(uincina Vs), uini F^. flumina Fs'/3 Vs. 17 lohannes Fs Vs. sacrum 

Fs Vs. 18 impleuit Fs Vs. 



connected with o-^dXXw, ' cause to 
fall,' ' trip up.' Usually it means 
' deceive ' ; but Du Cange quotes 
Lobinell. Hist. Brit., tutic. . .fallit 
fossa, ' the ditch comes to an end,' 
in a marshy meadow. This use of 
falleret comes nearest to the nse 
classified in the Thesaurus as B i {res 
fallunt : absolute), where the mean- 
ing approaches to that of faillir, to 
fail. Thus Liv. xxviii. xxvii. 9 
quantum opinio fefellit (' was at 
fault,' 'went wrong'); Plin. Hist. 
Nat. xill. 142 si fefellerint insidiae 
(' have miscarried ) ; perhaps still 
nearer Plin. Epist. 11. i. 3 per... 
lubricuvi pauimenlum fallente ues- 
tigio cecidit ('missing,' 'slipping'); 
Porph. on Hor. Epod. xvii. 60 
fallit sensiis hie ( ' is wrong '). 

9f. Joh. ii. 2, 8. 13 f., 31. 49 f. 
This use of rogare seems to be un- 
paralleled. 

1 1 . sermone] ' at the word ' ; cp. 
Sedul. Op. III. 2 plenam puero sos- 
pitatevi uoce praestitit, sermone con- 
cessit, 

concite, 'in haste,' seems only 
to be known here and at 111. 25 
and one or two other passages. 



12. borrowed from 31. 52. 

13. 'The water is astonished at 
producing what nature had not 
given.' 

Probably the writer found at 8. 
19 the reading elementa mutata stu- 
pent transire. To gignere supply se 
as subject. Is it possible that the ori- 
ginal reading here was stupet (i.e. 
utula), making y?. ace. after gignerel 
The quae in 14 seems harsh in the 
sense of ' things which ' — though no 
doubt interpreted by what follows. 

14 is an echo of 31. 59. 

15. Cp. Sedul. Carm. in. 4f. 
amittere gaudent | pallorem latices. 

16. ulna] for the plu. cp. Vei^. 
Georg. I. 132 riuis currentia uina; 
36. 18 note. 

17 f. 8. 5f., 31. 41 f., 90. 15 f. 

sacer is less common of persons 
than is sanctus, but cp. Fort. lit. 
XV. 14 te pastore sacro. Probably 
Bapt. sacro are to be taken tc^ether, 
in apposition to lohanne. 

20. lauando] ' by washing,' or 
' in washing.' Our Saviour did not 
' wash ' Himself in the spiritual 
sense, but He did in the natural 
sense, and by so doing purified the 



3i6 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



non ipse mundari uolens, 
ex uentre natus uirginis, 
peccata sad mortaliura 
suo ut fugaret lauacro. 
dicente Patre quod ' meus* 
dilectus hie est Filius,' 
sumensque sanctus Spiritus 
formam columbae caelitus, 
hoc mystico sub nomine 
micat salus ecclesiae ; 
persona trina consonat, 
unus Deus per omnia. 



25 



30 



52 de Fs Vs, matris Fs Vs. 
38 aduenit (pro columbae) Fs Vs. 

element of water for higher pur- 
poses, as Ambrose says, in Luc. II. 
83 baptizatus ergo est Dominiis non 
mundari uolens, sedmundare aquas. 
Cp. also de Spir. S. I. 114 non quod 
Christus peccata sua deponeret, qui 
peccatum non fecit, sed quod in came 
Christi onine in peccatis suis genus 
absoluerettir humanuni. 

22. The virgin birth is treated as 
cutting off the transmission of ori- 
ginal sin. 

24. Fort, twice scans laudcrum, 
V. V. 96, Vit. Mart. II. 186. The 
accent of the word is there thrown 
on to the first a. 

25. dicente quod. ..est] see 87. 
10, 15. 

27. The nom. abs. certainly oc- 
curs in late writers : see note on 
69. 7, and Leo's Fortunatus p. 409, 
Ennod. Panegyr. viii. 40 (ed. 
Vogel), 103. 7, 113. 5, Schmalz 
p. 391. But in view of the abl.'s in 



24 fiigare {pro ut f.) Fs/S* Vs. 
31 commanet Fs Vs. 

i7f. and 25 perhaps the original 
was sumente sancto Spiritu. 

suinen8...caelltn8] Mt. iii. 16, a 
pregnant phrase : ' descending from 
heaven and taking.' 

29. sub nomine] under the name 
thus revealed as threefold, 48. 9 
note. 

30. micat s. e. means that the faith 
in the Trinity which is the salvation 
of the Church was signally set forth 
in the events which the previous 
stanza rehearses. 

3 1 . pers. trina] = tres personae, 
like 1. 27 pane quino^panibus 
quinque. consonat ' are in agree- 
ment ' ; as Aug. in Ps. XLIX says 
that the two Testaments consonant, 
unus Deus is in apposition to per- 
sona tr., and shews how the three 
'agree.' 

32. A variation of 6. 31. per 
omnia may perhaps qualify consonat 
rather than unus Deus. 



In Septuagesima. Hymn 92 

This interesting hymn is no doubt of Mozarabic origin, 
but its use spread, and it is found in English, French, 
German and Italian MSS. It dates from a time when 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN XCII 317 

such repetitions as the alleluia perenne at the close of 
each stanza had become customary. For a careful read- 
ing shews that these words are worked into the structure 
of the hymn and that they are not a later addition, as is 
the saecidorutn saeculis of 23. The rubric in the Mozarabic 
MS, BM add. 30851, de carnes tollendas, — the general 
rubric being in sepUiagesima^ — shews that the hymn was 
to be sung especially on the first Sunday in Lent, after 
which day the alleluia following the Gospel and in other 
parts of the services was discontinued. In the printed 
Mozarabic breviary of 1 502 at the end of this Sunday 
comes the direction hie clauditur alleluia. See Julian 
p. 47b; Analecta XXVII. p. 76; Neale Mediaeval 
Hymns p. 182; Hytnni Ecclesiae p. 248. In the earliest 
English MS that contains the hymn (British Museum 
add. 37517, Canterbury Psalter) stanza VI is omitted and 
IX comes as a doxology after stanza IV, and also at the 
end of the whole hymn. 

Ecdhjlsvr; Fsu Gm/3/u Hbcd Makx Vs 
Alleluia piis edite laudibus, 
ciues aetherei, psallite nauiter 
alleluia perenne. 

1 suauiter Gm/Sytt He, unanimiter Mx. 

1. clues aetherei] Eph. ii. 19, speak of the welcome that awaits 
Heb. xii. 22; Fort. iv. vii. 21 ad them hereafter in heave* Stanzas 
paradisiacas epulas te due rediuto ; IV and V encourage them to antici- 
ib. xxvii. 10 ad patriae sedes ciuis pate the future joy. Stanzas VI and 
opima redis. The same thought vil dwell upon the nature of it. 
recurs in jo reditu, \i patriae (cp. The last two stanzas praise the 
69. 15), ao reduces, as it has already creator Christ, 
occurred at 29. 55 genitali in sede. natilter] 'loudly,' 'lustily.' Neale 
The 'citizens of heaven' are the found unanimiter in the Mozar. 
saints on earth, who are about to brev. of 1503 and 'the metre de- 
forgo the singing of Alleluia for a manding ' corrected it not too suc- 
season, but are urged to join in it cessfuUy into unanime. The word 
heartily while yet they may :— even nauiter (gnauiter) seems to have 
when they may not sing it, it is an been in Spanish use. Anal, xxvil. 
unceasing Alleluia thai they take cxx. \ gaucUt nunc nauiter iam toga 
their part in. Stanzas 11 and in Candida; ib. cxxiv. 3. 



3i8 EARLY LATIN HYMNS ~ 

hinc uos perpetui luminis accola 
r adsumet resonans hymniferis choris 5 

alleluia perenne. 

uos urbs eximia suscipiet Dei, 
quae laetis resonans cantibus excitat 
alleluia perenne. 

felici reditu gaudia sumite, 10 

reddentes Domino glorificos melos 
alleluia perenne. 

almum sidereae iam patriae decus 
uictores capitis, quo canor est iugis 

alleluia perenne. 15 

4 hie Fs Hbd Vs. nos Ec. accolas Ecdlv Fs Gtn Hbd Vs, accolae Mx< 
5 assumens Gm Ma (-entes Fs Hd Vs). resonat Fs Hb Vs, resonant Hd, 
ad summum resonate Mx. hymniferi Fs Hd Vs. chori Fs Hd^ Vs. 
7 mox Hb. perpetua {pro exim.) Fs Hd Vs. 8 laeti Gm Hb. resonat 
Ecdv Fs Hb Mak Vs. excita Ecd Fs G/x Hbcd^ Vs, excitans Ev. 

10 te lucis {pro fel.) Fs Vs. reddita Fs Vs. edite {pro sumite) Gm. 

11 glorificum Eclv Fu. 13 sidereum Fs Hbd Vs. 14 canores Hb, 
canore Fs Hd Vs. iugi Fs Hd Vs. 

\{. lit. 'The dweller hard by The/^r/£/««OT /«/wf« is God Him- 

the eternal light sounding forth in self: the accolae are the angels and 

reply an endless alleluia shall re- saints who dwell in His presence, 

ceive you hence with hymn-raising assumere is often used of adopting 

choirs.' or taking into fellowship. Here it 

hinc, emphatically placed first, appears to look forward to the 

points the contrast between earth moment of entering heaven, but 

and heaven. So kuc 96. 8. With may perhaps include the thought 

perpetui luminis cp. 46. i n. that our praises are even now caught 

accola flneans 'a neighlx)ur,' /«- up by those of heavenly beings, 
cola 'an inhabitant.' The sing, is 7. eximia has its last syll. length- 
collective. Strictly speaking accola ened by the stress of the verse as 
would imply a dweller in a place have iocunda xn 17 and Christe in. 
that was not his own, like the 25. ; 
Greek /j^toiko^. Thus Hil. in Fs. suscipiet] ' shall welcome,' as at 
CXVlii. 19 snys accola non iuris sui 30. 25. 

terrain incolit, sed aduena atque lo. felici reditu] ' at (by reason 

peregrinus fructum ex ea tempo- of) your happy homecoming,' cp. 

rariae operationis expectat. In this. note on 2. 

interpretation he is followed by ri. glorificos melos] So Fort.: 

Ambrose, Jerome and others. Here III. ix. yi repticusso ...melo\ vil.viii.: 

however it seems to be used in a 28 honorijicuni .. .melum. Ronsch 

freer, less technical sense of one p. 268. 
who dwells near a spot or thing. 13. Verg. Aen. x. 3 sideream in 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN XCII 319 

Ulic regis honor uocibus inclitis 
iocunda reboat carmina perpetim 
alleluia perenne. 

hoc fessis requies, hoc cibus et potus, 
oblectans reduces haustibus affluis 20 

alleluia perenne. 

nos te suauisonis conditor affatim 
rerum carminibus laudeque pangimus 
alleluia perenne. 

te Christe celebrat gloria uocibus 25 

nostris oninipotens, ac tibi dicimus 
alleluia perenne. 

17 iocundo He. psallendo carmine (fro c. perp.) He. 19 fessi Hbd'. 
20 hoc laetans Fs Hbd Vs. reducens Eclv Fs Hd Vs. 22 suauisoni 

Fs Vs. 23 laudesque Fs Vs. pandimus Hb. 25 celebret Ecv Fsu 

Hbd Vs. 26 hac Ev. 



sedetn. Fort, often uses sidereus = 
' heavenly.' 

iam... capitis] 'even now ye re- 
ceive,' by anticipation. 

14. quo] 'where,' referring to 
patriae in 13, cp. 1. 18, 117. 31. 
iugis, like potus below, has lost its 
quantity. 

16. uocibus inclitis] Cp. 40. 33 
inclitam...gloriam. One is tempted 
to look upon itulitis as a transferred 
epithet ; but in that ease why should 
not the poet have actually written 
inclitif 

17. reboat] 63. 11. honor is 
used in much the same way as 
gloria in 25, for the ascription of 
honour, and may thus be said to 
echo or sound aloud glad songs. 

19. hoc.boc] in apposition \nth 
alleluia perenne. 

2 2f. In these two stanzas, the 
way in which the vocatives are in- 
woven into the sentences creates a 
good deal of difBculty, — rerum being 



separated from conditor, as omni- 
potetts is from Christe. With r^jard 
to the construction of the sentence 
nos te etc., it seems clear that te is 
the object or accus. a.(teT pangimus. 
pangimus must accordingly be un- 
derstood as a synonym of canimus, 
or dicimus. This is not surprising 
after 33. i pange proelium ; cp. 121. 
7 tropaea pangimus. This being so, 
the only construction for all. per- 
emu is to throw it into apposition 
with the ablatives carminibus lau- 
deque. affatim goes with pangi- 
mus : "To our hearts' content, O 
maker of the world, we celebrate 
Thee with sweet songs and with the 
praise ' Alleluia without end.' " 

In the following sentence gloria 
mast be taken in the sense which 
we have found before in these 
hymns,— e.g. 40. 34 — 'ascription of 
glory':—" Thee, O almighty Christ,' 
our acclamations of praise extol (Ht. 
' praise by our voices extols')." 



320 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

In Quadragesima. Hymn 93 

This Lenten hymn was in the older MSS generally 
appointed for Vespers, in some few for Lauds. Mone I. 
p. 94 gives it ad tertiam, which must be a later local use. 
He gives Gregory as the writer, but does not say why. 

Eacdghjlsvx5ij/i^ Fdhilprs Gkm Habcdegh/3 Ibcdfghmnv Mm Vcs 
Audi, benigne conditor, 
nostras preces cum fletibus 
in hoc sacro ieiunio 
fusas quadragenario. 

scrutator alma cordium, 5 

infirma tu scis uirium, 
ad te reuersis exhibe 
remissionis gratiam. 

multum quidem peccauimus, 

sed parce confitentibus ; 10 

ad laudem tui nominis 

confer medellam languidis. 

sic corpus extra conteri 
dona per abstinentiam, 

2 laudibus E/i Fhis Gm Hd Ibcdgmn Mm Vcsi. 6 cordium E5. 

7 adhibe He. lo confidentibus Ig Mm. poenasque comparauimus Ex 

Fdi Gk Hacefgh/3. ii nom. tui Eacdhjv Gm Hbd lb. sed cuncta qui 

solus potes Ex Fdi Gk Hacefgh/3. 13 hie El, si Mm. conteris E/x Mm. 

1. Cp. 20. 10 note. 6. 27. 

4. quadr.] Numerals of this kind 8. Mone quotes Hil. ?« /!f. lxvi. 
are often used without express men- 1 peccatorum remissio non probitatis 
tion of the thing numbered — 'of est tnerilum, sed spontancae indul- 
forty,' sc. days. gentiae twluntas. 

5. scrutator... cordium] Cp. i 10, 11. Blume notes that the 
Chron. xxviii. 9, Job x. 6, Ps. vii. German MSS, with one French one, 
10, Rom. viii. 27, Juvenc. i. f^'jgtum read poenasque comparauimus \ sed 
digna rependet \ occulti solus scru- cuncta qui solus potes, which is more 
tutor praemia cordis \ Sedul. <9/. ll. in keeping with the general cha- 
6 renum scrutator et cordis ; Ambr. racter of the metre. 

Hex. VI. 44 scrutatur cordis occulta. 12. languidis] 84. 7 note. 

6. Ps. cii. (ciii.) 14. 13- corpus is contrasted with 
Inflrma... uirium] oxymoron. Cp. mens'va.\i,. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN XCIV 321 

ieiunet ut mens sobria 15 

a labe prorsus criminum. 
praesta, beata Trinitas, 
concede, simplex Unitas, 
ut fructuosa sint tuis 

ieiuniorum munera. 20 

16 pressus H/3. crimina Im Vs. 19 ut sint acceptabilia Edlv. 

15. mens sobria] 6. 16. To 'fast' fast may be fruitful to Thy servants.' 

from a 'stain' is a curious mixture munera in the sense of sacrifices, 

of figures. gifts offered to God, is common 

19 f. 'that the sacrifice of the enough, cp. 96. 18. 

Hymn 94 

In the older MSS generally appointed for Nocturns, 
sometimes for Vespers, throughout Lent. Its later use 
varied. In the Sarum and York and some other uses it 
was sung at Vespers from the first to the third Sunday 
in Lent. In the Roman breviary it is the Mattins hymn 
during Lent up to Passion Sunday. Hymns 94, 95, 96 
occur in very few early French MSS — 95 I believe in not 
one. 

This hymn like 93 is assigned to Gregory by Mone 
who says 'es hat nicht nur seine Behandlung der Zahl- 
enmystik (vergl. seine Homil. in Evang. II. xxiv. 4 und 
II. xxxi. 6) sondern auch die Art seiner Lehren und Pre- 
digten.' This and the two hymns that follow seem to 
have been written by the same man, and he may have 
been Gregory ; but certainty is impossible. 

Eadhlvx^ Fhis Gm Habcdefgh Icfghmnv Mm Vcs 

Ex more docti mystico 

I doctis Ig. 

I. ex more] 'by the custom.' For may however be 'as taught in ac- 

the abl. of the instr. cp. Aug. Conf. cordance with.' 

V. 20 ex came inquinatiim ; Sedul. mystico may refer to the number 

Carm. il. 173 triplici Detis ex ra- forty; cp. Greg. Horn, in Euang. 

Hone ptobatur \ Schmalz p. 408. It I. xvi. 5 cur in abstimnlia quadra- 



322 EA RLY LA TIN H YMNS 

seruemus en ieiunium 
denum dierum circulo 
ducto quater notissimo. 

lex et prophetae primitus 5 

hoc praetulerunt, postmodum 
Christus sacrauit, omnium 
rex atque factor temporum. 

utamur ergo parcius 

uerbis, cibis, et potibus, 10 

somno, iocis ; et artius 

perstemus in custodia. 

uitemus autem pessima, 

quae subruunt mantes uagas, 

nullumque demus callido 15 

hosti locum tyrannidis. 

2 seruamus Hab^c. hoc {pro en) Ex Fi Hb^ Ig-hn Mm Vc. 3 deno 

Fh Gm He Iv. 6 protul. Edhl He. 10 cibisque Im. ac He. 

12 eustodiam Ehv Iv. 15, 16 callidi hostis 1. tyrannidi Gm Iv Vs^. 

hostis Ig^hm. 

genarius tiumerus ciistoditur, nisi 28 ; prophetae i.e. Elijah, i Kings 

quia uirtus decalogi per libros quat- xix. 8. 

ttwr sancti euangelii impletur? de- 6. praetul. probably means 

narius etiim quater ductus in quad- ' displayed, exhibited ' ; but prae- 

ragenarium surgit. Or it may refer ferre is used, though very rarely, in 

to the ' mystery ' of fasting, cp. 26. 6 the sense of 'to anticipate.' See 

nil hoc profecto purius tnysterio. Dirksen s.v. 

2. en] 'Oh! let us...' lays an 7. sacrauit] 98. 14, cp. 96. 4, 

emphasis on seruemus. It is often 96. 4. 

used in questions (Pers. III. 5 en 9. utamur etc.] Cp. Reg. S. 

quid agis? ' What ar^ you doing ? ') Bened. XLix in Lent subtrah&t 

and with imperatives (Verg. Eel. vi. \unusquisque monachoruni\ corpori 

6<) en accipe, ^do take them'). For sua de cibo, de potu, de somno, de 

the use in these hymns see 4. igf., loquacitate, de scurrilitale. 

28. I, 102. 5. 13. pessima] superl. as at 69. 12, 

3f. lit. ' in the well-known round 73. 16. 

of ten days four times reckoned.' 14. subruunt] 72. 6. 

denum as at 90. 13. mentes uagas] see 61. 11. 

circulo] 68. 19, 87. 14. 15. callido] 103. 11. 

4. notissimo of course qualifies 16. locum] 'vantage ground,' a 
circulo. Note the superl. military term. Cp. Eph. iv. 27. 

5. lex] i.e. Moses, Exod. xxxiv. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN XCV 323 

dicamus omnes cernui, 

clamemus atque singuli, 

ploremus ante iudicem, 

flectamus iram uindicem. 20 

nostris malis offendimus 

tuam, Deus, clementiam: 

effunde nobis desuper 

remissor indulgentiam. 

memento quod sumus tui 25 

licet caduci plasmatis : 

■ ne des honorem nominis 

tui, precamur, alteri. 

laxa malum quod fecimus, 

auge bonum quod poscimus, 30 

placere quo tandem tibi 

possimus hie et perpetim. 

17 ergo {pro omn.) Gm. 20 flectemus Elv. 23 infunde YA^. 

29 gessimus Eax Hce Ih. 31 quod Elv Gm. 32 hinc Eav He Ih. 

in perpetuum {pro hie et p.) Edhl. 

1 7. cernui] 62. 30. The dicamus ' though belonging to a fallen 

looks on to the petition in 21 foil. creation.' tui is probably nom. 

20. uindicem] 'avenging.' It is plur. ; but it might be joined with 

used of that which does justice, plasmatis. 

whether against one, as here and 27. Cp. (of men) Prov. v. q ne 

Rom. xiii. 4 uindex in iram, or for des alienis honorem tuum ; (of God) 

one, ' championing,' as 112. 22. Is. xlii. 8 and xlviii. ii gloriam 

24. remissor] The word does meam alteri non dabo. 
not seem to be found elsewhere, 29. laxa] as at 86. 10. 

but this is probably accidental. It 30. auge] Reg. S. Bened. XLIX 

is correctly formed, after the manner his diebus augeamus nobis aliquid 

oi promissor. solito penso seruitutis nostrae. 

25. Is. Ixiv. 8 Jictor noster tu, et 31. tandem emphasizes the verb, 
opera manutim tuarum omnes nos. as at 86. 8. 

26. plasmatis] 37. 20 note ; 

Hymn 95 

In liturgical practice this hymn is of course always 

connected with Lent, but its use therein is very varied. 

One MS from St Gall of the Xl/XIIth centuries assigns 

it to the third Sunday, other old MSS to the first or 



3 24 EARLY LA TLN H YMNS 

second Sunday. Another Xlth century MS from Bobbio 
has the rubric dotninica de passione ad nocturna. 

This hymn Hke many others has been positively given 
to Gregory, but on mere guesswork. 

Eacdhjlvx0 Fs Hefgh Ih Vs 

Clarum decus ieiunii 

monstratur orbi caelitus, 

quod Christus alter omnium 

cibis dicauit abstinens. 

hoc Moyses carus Deo 5 

legisque lator factus est, 

hoc Heliam per aera 

curru leuauit igneo. 

hinc Danihel mysteria 

uictor leonum uiderat, lo 

per hoc amicus intimus 

sponsi lohannes claruit. 

2 orbis Ev' Ih. 3 auctor Ex0 Ih, saluator Vs. 7, 8 Helias... 

levatur Vs. 9 mysterium Evx0 Hf Ih. 1 2 sponsus Ih, Christi 

Vs, Christo Ev (raj.). 

1. monstratur] 'is taught' or 7. i Kings xix. 8. hoc, nom. to 

'prescribed,' as at Verg. Aen. iv. leuauit, 

636 nionstrata piacula, ' the pre- 9. hinc] ' by means of this,' 

scribed offerings of atonement.' Dan. i. 8. 

3. altor forms an excellent an- mysteria... uiderat] Dan. ii. 19 
tithesis to abstinens in 4. The tutu Daniheli mysterium per uisio- 
variant auctor would come in as nem nocte reuelattim est. 

being so much commoner as an 10. uiderat] 'saw.' The force of 

appellation of Christ, as in 31. 5, the pluperf. is 'saw in days of old.'' 

36. 33, 37. I, 38. 18 etc. But see Cp. the tense of ausus erat in 41. 

Greg. Hom. in Euangel. I. xvi. 3 15, and of sanxeras in 96. 4, and 

Moyses, ut legem acciperet secundo, Propert. 11. ii. 13 diuae quas pastor 

diebus quadraginta ieiunauit, Helias uiderat olim. 

in deserto quadraginta diebus ab- 11. per hoc] Mt. iii. 4, xi. i8, 

stinuit, ipse auctor hominum ad Prud. Cath. vii. 66 illic dicata 

homines ueniens in quadraginta die- parcus abstinentia \ potum cibumque 

bus nullum omnino cibum sumpsit. uir seuerae industriae \ in usqtie 

4. abstinens 2\mos,i = abstinendo, serum respuebat itesperum, | rarum 
Matt. iv. 2. locustis et fauorum agrestium \ Ii- 

5. Exod. xxxiv. 28. hoc, 'by quore pastum corpori suetus dare. 
this.' Probably <rar«j Z)^6> refers to amicus... sponsi] Job. iii. 29. 
Exod. xxxiii. ri, Deut. xxxiv. 10. Probably this is the real predicate. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN XCVI 325 

haec nos sequi dona, Deus, 

exempla parsimoniae ; 

tu robur auge mentium, 15 

dans spiritale gaudium. 

'John was distinguished as the 14. pargimoniae] 26. 3, 96. 6, 

friend.' 110. 19. 



: Hymn 96 

Ecdjvx0 Fs Hefh Ih Vs 

lesu, quadragenariae 
dicator abstinentiae, 
qui ob salutem mentium 
hoc sanxeras ieiunium, 

quo paradiso redderes 5 

seruata parsimonia, 
quos inde gastrimargiae 
hue inlecebra depulit. 

adesto nunc ecclesiae, 

adesto paenitentiae, lo 

quae pro suis excessibus 

orat profusis fletibus. 

8 detulit He"^. ii qua E^ Hef Ih. 12 profusis orat E^ Hflh. 

precibus Ex0 Hf Ih. 

2. dicator] Cp. 96. 4 dicauil. 7. gastrimargiae] 'gluttony,' a 

3. 'who with a view to the word used by Plato Phaed. 81 K. 
health of the soul didst in days of The Mss for the most part mis-spell 
old hallow this fast.' the word grotesquely. 

Ob rarely has this final force, 8. hue] i.e. into this world of sin 

except in late I^tin ; in classical and suffering ; cp. the analogous 

Latin it means ' on account of,' not use of hinc, 92. 4. [It is possible — 

' with a view to ' as here. the word depulit, not expulit, sug- 

mentium] see 12. 15 note. gests it — that the writer regarded 

4. sanxeras] see note on 96. 10 the Paradise as above this world. 
uideras. Cp. Dr Robinson's note on Irenaeus 

■;. quo] 'in order that,' a conj., Demonstration p. 81.] 
rather than an abl. 'whereby' re- 11. pro] 'on account of her 

ferring to ieiunium : for see line 6, transgressions.' The i/uae of course 

which would otherwise be super- refers back to ecclesiae. 
fluous. For the sense cp. 29. 4Qf. 12. Cp. 20. 10 note. 



326 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

tu retro acta crimina 
tua remitte gratia, 
L- et a futuris adhibe 15 

custodiam, mitissime, 

ut expiati annuls ' 

ieiuniorum uictimis 
tendamus ad paschalia 
digne colenda gaudia. 20 

14 redemit Vs. 15 hac [pro a) Vs. 

13. retro] 'in time past.' Ronsch 17, 18, like 110. 17 f., is based 

p. 343 gives many examples of this on 25. 5 f., which see. The yearly 

use of the word. Lenten fast is regarded as an offer- 

15. ' and do Thou guard us from ing to Christ. Y ox expiati c^. 2^. 1. 

sins in the future.' With a futuris Benedict Reg. XLIX exhorts negle- 

supply criniinidus (rom 13. Blume gentias aliorum temporum his diebus 

reads affuturis, but does not say Sanctis diluere. 
how he takes it. 

Hymn 97 

As to the date of this fine old hymn, its merely 
rhythmical character (note the repeated lengthening of 
short syllables in i, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 etc.) and the incomplete 
rhymes in 3 f., stanza III and 19 f. forbid us to place it 
after the revival of learning under Charles the Great. If 
we say Vlth century we shall not be far from the truth. 
Lipp says IX-XIth centuries, Daniel X-XIIIth cen- 
turies. But Daniel postdates many hymns. Its general 
use was at Mattins during Lent. The variety of readings, 
which at times makes it hard to say what the original 
text was, seems to be due partly to deliberate editing, 
partly to the difficulty of certain of its stanzas. 

Esvxij/i Fdghimnrs Gm Hd Ibdeghmnv Vcs 

lam, Christe, sol iustitiae, 

mentis dehiscant tenebrae, 

2 recedant Id Vs. 

I. sol iustitiae] Mai. iv. 2. tenebrae, | nunc mentis eat caecitas, | 

1 f. The variant noctis recedunt uirtutum et lux redeat (coming, as 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN XCVH 327 



uirtutum ut lux redeat, 
terns diem cum reparas. 

das tempus acceptabile, 
et paenitens cor tribue, 
conuertat ut benignitas, 
quos longa suffert pietas. 

quiddamque paenitentiae 
da ferre, quamuis grandium 
maiore tui munere 



10 



3 et (pro ut) Fg Hd Id Vs. 4 terras Hd*. dies Hd Vs. dum Ev Fr. 
reparat Ih. 2, 3, 4 de lectione Fm Gm uide annot. infra. 5 da Gm 

Ibghv. 7, 8 uiJe infra, ad 2. 10 licet {pro quamuis) Gm. 

1 1 maiorem Hd- Idh, -ra Fm, -ri Fn. tuo Ev Gm lb, tuis Hd^ munera 
Fm, nomine Ibg, -nis Ex. 



it does, in two MSS written probably 
at Limoges and Moissac respectively) 
seeins to point to a local use. This 
is so likewise with the variant in 7 f. 
ne nos ttacuum transeat hoc quod 
benigne praerogas. 

dehiscant] 'part asunder,' cp. 
21. 5 scinditur and other passages, 
where the darkness is regarded as a 
material pall drawn over things. 
The Thesaurus quotes the gloss 
StaxoLlvw dehiscit, aperit,patescitiix\A 
as synonyms oidehiscere gives scindi, 
disrumpi. 

4. diem] 'the natural day,' the 
hymn being written for an early 
morning hymn ; terris (plural) means 
the natural earth. 

5f. 'Thou givest an acceptable time 
(i Cor. vi. 2), grant us also a peni- 
tent heart.' The appropriation of the 
passage in 2 Cor. to the beginning 
of Lent was universal in the West 
from very ancient times. Leo Serm. 
XXXIX (/■« Qttcuirag.) opportune 
auribus nostris lectio aposlolicae prae- 
dicationis insonuit dicens, ^ Ecce 
nunc t. cuceptum^ etc. Cp. Serm. 

XL. 

paenitens and paenitendus are 
the two forms of pc^nitere that are 
used by classical writers personally, 



but other parts of the verb are so 
used in late Latin : see Paul. Nol. 
Carm. VI. 263, XX. 236, Sedul. Op. 
IV. 7 quae cadeniibus manum dare 
non paenitet ; Fort. Vit. Mart. il. 
195 si nunc pcuniteas; Lofstedt 
Aeth. p. 46. paenitens is always 
used as an adj. 

7f. benignitas... pietas] 29. 39. 
Cp. Rom. ii. 4 f. 

9. paenitentiae seems here to 
indicate the outward expression of 
penitence, i.e. penance. 'Grant us 
to bear (offer) something of peni 
tential hardship.' Cicero uses quid- 
dam malt, like quiddam p. here. 

10 f. lit. 'that there may be a 
doing away of our sins however 
great by Thy gift which is greater 
still.' The penitence is regarded as 
a gift of God, as in Acts xi. 18. 
[As demptio (a rare word) is used in 
the Old Latin for an 'offering,' per- 
haps here also there is a touch of sacri- 
ficial meaning in it.] 

tni] = tuo, as often in late Latin ; 
cp. Sedul. Hymn. i. 93 passio, 
Christe, tui conpleuit munera Ugis \ 
Fort. I. xiii. ^pio mercede tui ; vil. 
xviii. 14 dicta... tui. See Moxon's 
note on Vincent Ler. Comm. 2 p. 8. 



328 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

quo demptio sit criminum. 

dies uenit, dies tua, 

per quam reflorent omnia ; 

laetemur in hac ut tuae 15 

per banc reducti gratiae. 

te rerum uniuersitas 

Clemens adoret Trinitas, 

et nos noui per ueniam 

nouum canamus canticum. 20 

12 quod Esx Fhmn Gm Hd legv Vcs. emptio Ex Fm Gm Hd^ leg Vcs. 
criminis Ex. 13 ueni Hd. in qua Esvx Ibghmv. 15 tui Fmr Hd^, 
tua E^c Gm Hd' Inv, tuam lb'. 16 redempti Hd^. gratia Gm Hd' Iv, 
gratiam Esx/* Fm Hd* In. 19 at Idehmn. uos In. 

12. quo] 'in order that,' as in this day.' There is a contrast be- 

96. 5. Note how late it comes in tween ?« hac send per hanc : Lenten 

the sentence. penance leads to Easter joy. 

1 3 f. ' The day is coming, Thy ut with the participle gives the 
day, by which all things are brought reason, as utpote at 29. 34 ; Schmalz 
again into bloom.' This day is p. 458. 

Easter. As at 10. i there is a refer- 1 7. rerum uniuersitas] a phrase 

ence to Ps. cxvii. (cxviii.) 24. used by Cic. de Nat, Dear. i. xliii. 

14. For the underlying thought 120, who also has uniuersitas gene- 

of this line cp. 36. 9-18, of which ris humani; cp. Tob. viii. 19 ut 

passage the writer may be thinking. cognoscat uniuersitas gentium quia 

reflorent] Ps. xxvii. (xxviii.) 7 tu es Deus solus in uniuersa terra, 
rejioruit caro mea. rg. noui] 'made new through 

1 5 f. In the Psalm laetemur in ea, pardon.' 
'let us be glad therein, as being 20. Cp. 87. 24; Rev. xiv. 3 and 

brought home to Thy favour through often in Pss. 

Hymn 98 

The metre of 98 is rugged. Not only are short syllables 
made long throughout, but there are many spondees in 
the 2nd foot, and a spondee or trochee is found as often as 
an iambus even in the 4th foot of the verse. The only other 
hymn which does this to any extent is 49. The two may 
have been written at the same time. The ruggedness of 
the metre has caused some of the lines to be rewritten in 
later MSS. Thus Lipp with the Cistercian breviary writes 
2 f. spes una tnundi perditi^ \ preces intende paiiperum \ ad 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN XCVHI 329 

pedes tuos flentium. \ nostra nos conscientia \ culpis accu- 
sal grauibus. See Mone I. p. 97. 

The hymn was used for various hours in different 
places. 

Eadghsvij/t Fdhipr Gm HdghX Ih Mm 
Summi largitor praemii, 
spas qui es unica mundi, 
pieces intende seruorum 
ad te deuote clamantum. 
nostra te conscientia 5 

graue offendisse se monstrat, 
quam emundes supplicamus 
ab omnibus piaculis. 

si rennuis, quis tribuet ? 

indulge, quia potens es : 10 

si corde rogamus mundo, 

certe debes ex promisso. 

ergo acceptare nostrum 

qui sacrasti ieiunium, 

I summe Edghsvi/^u Fdhp Gm Hdg. 4 clamantium Hg. 5 se Ea 
Fr. -tiam Mm. 6 se off. Hd. 7 qua Ed. emunda Hg^ Ih. 

1 1 rogaris Fhr Hd Mm. 1 1, 12 te corde rogare mundo fac nos, 

precamur, domine Eaghs;x Gm (rogari Ev). 13 accepta rex Ea, 

acceptato Eh. 14 quod Eh. 

I. summi is preferred io summe 8. piaculis] 'defilements,' 67. 

for much the same reasons as sunt- 5. 
mae in 69. i, magnae in 77. r. 9. For the spelling rennuis cp. 

largitor] 45. i, 107. 18. 12. u note, and Stolz Lot. Gr. 

1. spes] 87. 6. p. 90. 

3. intende takes an ace. as at 10. indulge] ' pardon,' 66. 10. 

87. 7. 1 1 f. The variant te corde rogare 

6. The line graui offdndissi mon- [rogari) mundo \ fac nos, precamur^ 
strdt is possible, as se is often omitted Domine looks like a softening down 
when it is the subject of an infinitive, of what .seemed too bold a state- 
cp. e.g. 36. 36. But both grammar ment. The statement in the text is 
and metre would be easier if we read the converse of Ps. Ixv. 18. 
offendisse se. se might well fall out 13. acceptare] Unless we are to 
after offendisse. The reading of lid treat this as an unique occurrence of 
is in favour of it. the verb as a dejxjnent, we must 

7. ' Which we beseech Thee to remove the stop at promisso, and 
cleanse' : cp. Heb. ix. 14, x. 1. take ace. with debes. 



330 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



quo mystice paschalia 
capiamus sacramenta. 
summa nobis hoc conferat 
in Deitate Trinitas, 
in qua gloriatur unus 
per cuncta saecula Deus. 



15 



16 sacramentum Mm. 

15. mystice] evidently intended 
to bear the sense of rite. sacr. in- 
cludes all the sacred ceremonies of 
the festival. 

19. •In qua] sc. Trinitate. 

gloriatur would seem to be 
pass, 'is glorified'; but until such 
an employment of the word is found 
elsewhere it is safest to take it to 



18 et adoranda {pro in d.) Ih. 

mean that God rejoices in His three- 
foldness. In the following passages 
a passive meaning may be intended : 
Cypr. Epist. Lxvi. 2 qui iudicio ac 
testimonio Dei non probantur tan- 
lum sed gloriantur ; Ambr. in Luc. 
VI. 100 Christus noluit gloriari, sed 
maluit ignobilis uideri. See Bayard 
p. 36. 



Hymn 99 

In quadragesima ad tertiain or ad tertia was the un- 
broken use of this hymn. 

Eacdhjlosvxj7/i<^ Fagimsz^ Gbm Hbcdf/3 Icdefghmnopv Vcs 

Dei fide qua uiuimus, 

spe perenni qua credimus, 

per caritatis gratiani 

Christo canamus gloriam. 

qui ductus hora tertia 5 

ad passionis hostiam 

1 perenne Fa^. om. qua Eo Fa^. 4 Christi nonnulli. 6 hostia H/3. 



I f. For the three theological 
virtues cp. 16. ,2 1 f., 47. 1 7 f. 

Dei fide] ' by our faith in God ' ; 
for the gen. cp. 116. \^fida Christi, 
and Mark xi. 22 habete fidem Dei. 

qua uiuimus] Habak. ii. 4, quoted 
Rom. i. 17, Gal. iii. 1 1, Heb. x. 38. 

2. spe perenni] ' by the hope of 
eternal life,' Tit. i. 2 in sfiem uitae 
aelernae. Or shall we simply cp. 
87. 6? For the intimate connexion 
of faith and hope cp. Gal. v. 5. Cp. 



also Rom. iv. 18 qui contra spent in 
spent credidit. 

5. Mk. XV. 25. 

6. ' to the sacrifice of His passion.' 
For the gen. passionis cp. 42. 34 
criicem mortis, line 7 crucis suspen- 
dia. hostia, like our word 'sacrifice,' 
denotes both ' the victim ' (11. 29, 
12. 5 etc.) and the act of offering it 
(63. 7). Ronsch p. 327 quotes the 
similar phrase Tert. Patient. 3 ad- 
ducitur ut pecus ad uictimam. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN C 331 

crucis ferens suspendia 

ouem reduxit perditam. 

precemur ergo subditi, 

redemptione liberi, lo 

ut eruat a saeculo 

quos soluit a chirographo. 

7 cruci H/3. 9 precamur El Hd^ Vs, precentur 11^. n quod 
Fi le Vs. 

7. crucis... suspendia] 'enduring is the Lamb, 

the hanging on the cross.' 9. subditi] 85. 30. 

8 comes from 32. 28. An old 12. Cp. 60. 15. The doxology 
scribe in Durh. B. III. 32 wrote to this and the four next hymns is 
against ouem .. .perditam ^sc. Adam.' gloria tibi, Trinitas, \ aequalis una 
The introduction of the ouis perdita Deitas, \ et ante omne saeculum \ et 
is to some extent prepared for by nunc et in perpetuum. 

the hostia, which implies that Christ 

Hymn ioo 

In quadragesima{-mo) ad {sexto) sextant is the rubric 
of the hymn in the MSS. Sievers in his edition of the 
Oxford MS, Bodley Junius 25, says that the hymn is 
contained only in that MS. But it is in about 20 other 
MSS of the Xth and Xlth centuries, while 99 and lor 
are contained in many more. 

Ecdhjlov Fais^ Gbm Hbcd^ lop Vs 

Meridie orandum est, 

Christusque deprecandus est, 

ut iubeat nos edere 

de sue sancto corpora : 
I rorandum H/S. 2 om. que Eo Fa^ Gd Hbc lop. qui H^. 

4 sanguine Ev. 

1. meridie] P.s. liv. (Iv.) 18. fast days, when communion was 

2. deprecandus] See note on deferred. The word iubere is often 
19. 13, and observe that the gerun- used in late Latin in the weakened 
dive is passive though from a de- sense of ' granting,' ' permitting,' as 
ponent verb. The later MSS inserted in the well-known liturgical formula 
-que here after Christus and in 9 lube domne benedicere, on which see 
after det. See Huemer Untersuch- Maskell Ancient Liturgy (3rd ed.) 
tmgen p. 37 f. p. 64 f., and Ducange s. v. /w/i^r^. 

Note that the hymn is one for 4- de.corpore] 'of His body.' 



332 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

ut ille sit laudabilis 5 

in uniuerso populo, 
ipse caelorum Do minus, 
qui sedet in altissimis. 

detque nobis auxilium 

per angelos mirabiles, lo 

qui semper nos custodiant, 

in omni uita saeculi. 

5 et He. 6 uniuersis -lis aliquot posteri ores. 7 qui est {pro ipse) 

H/3, 9 om. que Eo Fai^ Ip Vs. 11 nos semp. He. 12 uitaeGb. 

saecula Fa Hd. 

Here and in the similar passage 'some of the sacred wood.' See 

I Cox. x\. 2% sic de pane tllo edatei de Lbfstedt Aeth. p. 106 f., Ronsch 

calice bibat, we have the beginnings p. 396, Schmalz p. 407. 

of the partitive use of de, whieh is 5. laudabilis] ' praised.' The ut 

so conspicuous in the Romance seems to be parallel to that in 3, 

languages. In Latin this use be- and dependent upon deprecandus. 

longed to the conversational style; 10. angelos mirabiles] Cp. Sedul. 

cp. Plaut. Stick. 400 ibo intra ad Op. \. 11 angelus...viirabilis reside- 

libros et discam de dictis vielioribus, bat in saxo (with reference to Judges 

'some better things to say'; Aug. xiii. 18); and in the Michaelmas 

Conf. III. 7 utrum iusti...qui sacri- collect : Deus qui miro ordine ange- 

/icarentdeanimalibus(desanimaux). lorum viinisteria...dispensas. 

Aetheriae Peregrinatio iii. 6 dede- 12. uita saeculi] 'our earthly 

runt nobis presbyteri...de pomis {des life,' as in dies saeculi above, 13. 1, 

pommes) ; ib. XXXVII. 2 dicitur and often. 
quidam . . .furasse de sancto ligno, 

Hymn ioi 

In qiiadragesiina ad sexta7n. Blume {Analecta LI p. 66) 
notes that no German MS earlier than the Xllth century 
contains this hymn, and that ChevaHer Repertoriiim 
no. 15840 gives as sources for it several comparatively 
modern printed French breviaries of the XVth and 
XVIth centuries. There Fortunatus is named as the 
writer of the hymn, a mistake which comes from Daniel 
(I. 169, cp. IV. 176) who says /er/ur sub Fortunati nomine 
in Hymnario Thomasii; but Tomasi says no such thing. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN CI 333 

Easvi;/*^ Fisz Gm Hdf Icefghmnv Vcs 

Qua Christus hora sitiit, 
crucem uel in qua subiit, 
quos praestat in hac psallere 
ditet siti iustitiae. 

quibus sit et esuries, 5 

de se quam ipse satiet, 
crimen sit ut fastidium 
uirtusque desiderium. 

charisma sancti Spiritus 

sic influat psallentibus, 10 

ut carnis aestus frigeat 

et mentis algor ferueat. 

2 quam Hd'^ Vs. 3 quod Ih, quo Fz. banc Fz. 5 esuriens 

Es^ Ih. 6 quam i. de se Eav0 (ipsa Es) Fz Ighmv. 8 desiderio 

Es. 10 sint Es. 11 ardor Gm. 

1. The first reference is to Joh. this sense we should expect the dat. 
iv. 6f. (cp. 66. 21 f.), but the writer quibus. Cp. Damas. ix. 2 uiuere 
may also be thinking of the thirst qui praestat morientia semina terrae, 
on the cross, Joh. xix. 28, in spite Fort. I. xxi. 10. praestare is on its 
of the inverted order. way to becoming the French />r//^r, 

2. Joh. xix. 14. Cp. 53. 5 f. , 65. the Italian /rw/or^. See further the 
9f. note on 4 7. 

uel] ' and,' 37. 6 note. 5. esuries] Mt. v. 6. 

3f. ' May He enrich with a thirst 6. Ps. cvi. (cvii.) 9 animam esu- 

for righteousness (Mt. v. 6) those rientem satiauit bonis. 

whom He allows to sing at this de se] Cp. 100. 4 note. See 3. 

hour.' In form the sentence is like 21. 

36. 41: the relative clause precedes 7. Caistidiaiii] ' a loathsome thing,' 

the principal one and the antecedent cp. 2. 4. 

is omitted. 9. chaiiama] 90. 24. 

qtios is to be regarded as the 10. influat] 106. 13. 

subject oi psallere rather than as the 1 1 . aestus] 46. 1 4. 
object of praestat, after which in 



334 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

For None in Lent. Hymn 102 

Easvij^i^ Fhns Gm Hdf Icefghmn Vcs 

Ternis ter horis numerus 
sacrae fidei panditur ; 
nunc Trinitatis nomine 
munus precemur ueniae. 

latronis en confessio 5 

Christi meretur gratiam, 
laus nostra uel deuotio 
mercetur indulgentiam. 

mors per crucem nunc interit, 

et post tenebras lux redit: 10 

horror dehiscat criminum, 

splendor nitescat mentium. 

I per Es. 1 fidei sacrae Hd^. pangitur Hd'^. 3 ut (pro nunc) Fn. 
4 precamur Esv/t Fh Icg^ 8 meretur E0^. 9 mox Es. 10 rediit 
E/*Ig. 

1. The number nine is here pro- procure us pardon.' 

fessedly broken up into three threes latronis] Cp. 10. 7 f., 29. 45, 

in order to introduce the number of 56. 27. 

the Trinity ; so also at 54. i. Cp. 6. meretur] 4. 8 note. 

52. 3f. We may take lernis ter h. 7. uel] 'and,' 37. 6 note, 

as a descriptive ablative attached to 8. mercetur] 'procure,' the idea 

numerus, and s. fidei as dative after of buying having well-nigh gone. 

panditur : ' the number of thrice Cp. Ambr. Apol. Dauid 85 corpora 

three hours is disclosed to holy sua ohtulerunt martyrio, ut Christi 

faith.' Cicero, in his translation of sibi f^ratiam niercarenlur; [Damas.] 

Aratus, uses /fl«</?V«r of a constella- LViii. 3 sanguine purpurea mercan- 

tion becoming visible. A Christian tes praetnia uitae', Saluian. adEccles. 

faith notes both the arrival of the li. 13 Dominum lesutn Christum 

hour and its mystical significance. twn sanctitate solum sed etiam pau- 

2. In like manner at 48. g fides pertate mercantur; Fort. I. v, 19, 
means the special belief in the II. xvi. 148, IV. v. 20, xxvii. 17 
Trinity. aeternum mercata diem. 

3. nomine] It is a somewhat 9. nunc] at the ninth hour, when 
strange expression, to pray ' in the Christ by His death slew death, 
name of the Trinity.' Perhaps the Cp. 10. 31 f. 

reference is to the baptismal formula, 10. Mt. xxvii. 45. 

by which forgiveness is first be- 11. horror... criminum] 'dread 

stowed. sins,' cp. 67. 14, 80. 14, 81. 6. 

5 f. ' The robber's acknowledge- dehiscat] ' break up,' and so 

ment wins Christ's grace (cp. 10. ' disperse,' as in 97. 3. 
22), may our praise and devotion 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN cm 335 

Hymn 103 

Vespers in Lent. Is the first stanza an integral part 
of the hymn ? Certainly sic ter quaternis in 5 would be a 
most abrupt beginning, so abrupt that we can but suppose 
some stanza to have preceded it. Some copyists tried to 
remedy matters by writing iam for sic. But, if the hymn 
originally began Ut nox etc., how is it that the stanza is 
contained in so few MSS? In Veron. cap. CIX the hj'mn 
is rewritten. Thus 7 f. sol occidens reciproca \ noctis re- 
signat sydera. \ Sanctae crucis signaculo \ signetnus {h)ora 
sedtilo, I serpens ut tile callidus \ abhinc recedat longius. \ 
Manus pudicis actibus \ et cordapuris sensibus \ armentur, 
ut perterritunt \ hostem repellat inprobum. \ Et ne ciborum 
crapula \ distendat umquam corpora^ \ ne sompnus ingens 
incidat \ uagasque inentes oppriniat. \ Haec est Deo gratis- 
sinta I ieiuniorum hostia, \ si corpus et cor sobrium \ noxa 
carebunt criminum. \ Sunimo Patri sit gloria \ prolique 
laus quam tnaxima \ sanctoque sit spiramini \ per cuncta 
secla seculi. 

Eadhlov/x FabipsjS^ Gbm/Syu Hbcdegh/3 Icfhopv Vs 

Ut nox tenebris obsita 
aequans per boras tempera 
ternis quater successibus 
reddit diem mortalibus, 
sic ter quaternis trahitur 5 

horis dies ad uesperum, 
1-4 in GjS Hegh Ih tanium. 5 iam Ea/t Gm Iv. uoluitur Ih. 

1. tenebris obsita] 'shrouded by itself departing, cp. 69. 7 note, 
with darkness ' as if with a cloak or 5. If sic ter is the original be- 
pall; 21. 5 note. For the phrase ginning of the hymn, sic must be 
cp. Prud. Cath. H. 86 hominem taken in the same kind of sense as 
tenebris obsitum. ergo in Horace's well-known ergo 

2. tempora] the times of day and Quincti Hum... sopor urget. But it 
night, per h. distributive, ' hour would be difficult to find a similar 
for hour.' instance. 

4. The night gives back the day 



336 EA RL V LA TIN H YMNS 

occasu sol pronuntians 
noctem redire temporum. 

nos ergo signo Domini 

tutemus claustra pectorum, lo 

ne serpens ille callidus 

intrandi temptet aditum. 

sed armis pudicitiae 

mens fulta uigil libere 

sobrietate comite 15 

hostem repellat inprobum. 

sed ne ciborum crapula 
tandem distendat corpora, 

7 occasum Edlov Gb Hd^eh/3 lov Vs. praenuntians Ev G/3, pronuntiat 
Eah Fp/3 Iv. 8 noctis Fb. tempora Fb/3. 9 signum F^. 

10 tutemur Hh Iv, tundamus Gb Hbc lo, tundimus Eo Fai^. pectoris Gm 
Ipv, casta pectora Eho Fab/3 G/3 Hgh lo, nostra p. H/3, casto pectore F^. 
12 attemptet G/3 He. aditus Eo Fb^ Gb/3. 14 liberae Eh, liberis 

Eo F^. 15 -tem -tern Fa (te -tem F^) Gb. 17 et (pro sed) Ih. 

nee (pro ne) Eabchv Gbm/3 Hegh Vs. 18 dist. umquam Ih, distentet 

Edhlv Hd (-tat Hh). 

7 f. ' The sun telling forth by his si peccator es, magis curre ut uigi- 

setting that the night season is re- lando et orando purgeris ; dutn tunso 

turning.' sol pronuntians is nomin. pectore frequentius clamas.... 

absolute, cp. 91. 27 note. 11. serpens... callldas] Gen. iii. 

8. redire should strictly be fu- i serpens erat callidior cunctis ani- 

ture, rediturani esse. But in late mantibus; Ambr. in Ps. cxviii. 

Latin the fut. inf. is almost always xv. 1% serpens ille callidus et asttUus', 

replaced by the present, cp. 42. 19 94. 15. 

resurgere credimus, 89. 18, Schmalz 13. sed has little or no adver- 

p. 428. n. temporum appears to be sative force here or in 1 7, cp. 36. 

used in the same way as dies sae- 37. 

cult. 14. libere... repellat] 'boldly re- 

9f. The writer is probably think- pel'; cp. Cic. Cael. 7 liberius et 

ing of 26. 5. fortius et magis more nostro refu- 

10. tutemus] The active form taremus ; Quint, xii. i. 31 fortius 

tutare is used by Naevius and liberiusque defendere. 

Plaut. Cp. Wisd. x. 12 a seduc- 15. comite] perhaps =j(7«a, con- 

toribus tutauit ilium. Fort. App. trasted with hostem. 

XXIII. 21, Vit. Mart. iv. 83 uses 17. crapula] 'surfeit,' 26. 9, 

tutari in a passive sense. With 116. 27 ; Luke xxi. 34. 

the variant tundamus... pectora cp. 18. tandem] 'we pray,' cp. 85. 8 

Nicet. de Vigiliis 3 (p. 59 ed. Burn) note. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN CIV 337 

ne ui per somnum animam 

ludificatam polluat. 20 

19 ne cui H/3, nee ui Fb (nee aim F^). anima H/3. 20 -ta El Hb/3 

Iv Vs (-cat Hh), glorificata Eho F^ Ip, -tarn Hce lo. 

19. per somnum] ' during sleep,' to. ladiflcatam] 67. 1 5 im/w/^z/. 

as in Suet. Cues. 45 per somnum polluat] Cp. 83. 8. 

exterreri solebat. 



For Palm Sunday. Hymn 104 

Aabdefghik Bb Fls/3 Hbd laeefn Vcs 

Magnum salutis gaudium ! 
laetetur omne saeculum ! 
lesus redemptor omnium 
sanauit orbem languidum. 

sex ante paschae ferias 5 

• aduenit in Bethaniam, 
ubi pie post triduum 
resuscitauit Lazarum. 

I magno...gaudio Icef Vcs (magnum. ..gaudio Ae). 6 Bethania Aef. 

1. 'O great joy of salvation!' over.' _^r«aj here takes the place of 

With the later reading magna... gau- dies of the Vulgate, having come to 

dio the line goes closely with the mean 'days.' For the process see 

next. Ducange s. v. Only once in the Vul- 

1. Cp. 6. 7, 38. I, 31, 39. 32. gate \% feriae used, of the feast of 

4. sanare is always used of heal- Tabernacles, in Levit. xxiii. 

ing bodily sickness, as at Mt. iv. 23 In giving a date the gen. denotes 

saltans omnem langtwrem ; here of the starting-point, as at Oros. vii. 

course metaphorically. xl. 3 ante biennium inruptionis. 

languidum] 84. 7 note. 6. in B.] The curious in comes 

After stanza i Cod. Vat. 7172 from Matt. xxi. 17, Mk xi. ii, 

inserts two others. Si hie fuisset Luke xxiv. 50. 

Domimis, \ Lazarus adhiu uiueret. \ 7. post triduum] The deviation 

quatridnanus iatn fetel \ in monu- from Joh. xi. 39 quatricUianus est 

mento positus. \ currunt uidere Laza- is perhaps due to ib. 6. The same 

rum, I qui fuerat iain mortuus, \ change is made by Damas. ix. 3 f. 

sedentem cum discipulis, \ loqtuntem soluere qui potuit letalia uincula 

cum apostolis. mortis, \ post tenebras fratrem, post 

5. Joh. xii. I ante sex dies pas- tertia lumina solis \ ad superos iU- 
chae uenit Bethaniam : the first rum Marthae donare sorori. 
words of the Gospel for the day 8. resusc.] A classical writer 
before Palm Sunday in the Roman would have used the pluperfect, 
missal. ' Six days before the pass- 



338 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

nardi Maria pistici 

sumpsit libram mox optimi, lo 

unxit beatos Domini 

pedes rigando lacrimis. 

post haec iugalis asinae 

lesus, supernus arbiter, 

pullo sedebat, inclitam 15 

pergebat lerosolymam. 

o quam stupenda pietas ! 

mira Dei dementia ! 

sessor aselli fieri 

dignatur auctor saeculi. 20 

olim propheta praescius 

praedixit almo Spiritu : 

* exulta ' dicens ' filia 

Sion satis et iubila. 

rex ecce tuus humilis, — 25 

noli timere, — ueniet, 

pullo iugalis residens, : 

tibi benignus, patiens.' 

10 optimam la. 1 1 beato domino Bb. 15 pullum Aef Fl Icn Vcs. 

27 pullum Aafh Bb. iugali Aeg Fl laen Vc. praesidens Ae. 

10. Job. xii. 3. mox represents 104 f.) has substituted here and at 

o^v of the Greek, ergo of the Latin. 27 the classical iugalis. 

Late writers use it loosely, e.g. 14. axbiter] 32. 31. 

Fort. Vit. Mart. i. 217 mox fragor 15. "pxxHo^pullMn is well attested 

aslra petit. Notice how late it comes both here and at 27, but would come 

in the sentence. from the Latin of Zech. ix. 9, Mt. 

optlml] = 7roXur//Aoy, pretiosi, of xxi. 5. 

the Gospel. inclitam] 89. 19. 

12. 'wetting His feet with her 19. sessor... fieri (a phrase which 

tears ' comes from Lk. vii. 38. no classical writer would have here 

For the gerund see 21. 11. y\%^i\)=sedere; cp. Theodulf's hymn 

i3f. Mt. xxi. 2f. Gloria, laus et honor, stanza xi sis 

iugalis] strictly one used for pitts ascensor, tuus et nos simus asel- 

ploughing, not for riding: cp. Lk. Ins, see Daniel I. p. 216, Kayser 

xix. 30 ' whereon no man ever yet vol. Ii p. 320. 

sat.' It represents the virol^vyiov of 21 f. Zech. ix. 9f. 

Mt. xxi. 5. Notice that the writer 22. almo] a divine attribute, as 

for the unclassical subiugalis of the at 84. i. 

Vulgate (for which see Rcinsch p. 24. satis] ' greatly,' is the Vulgate 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMM CIV 339 

ramos uirentes sumpserat 
palma recisos tenera 30 

• . turba, processit obuiam 

regi perenni plurima. 
coetus sequens et praeuius 
sanctoque plenus Spiritu 
clamabat * in altissimis 35 

hosanna Dauid filio.* 
quidam solutis stropheis 
uiam tegebant uestibus, 
pluresque flore candido 

iter parabant Domino, 40 

ad cuius omnis ciuitas 
commota ingressum tremuit, 

30 recisa Ad, recisus Af. 31 praecessit Abefh. obuia Aae In Vc. 

34 pleno Ic. 36 filium Bb. 37 salutis Abefh, silitis Bb. tropheis 

Aabdfghi la. 39 flores la. candidum la. 42 cuncta {pro commota) 
Bb. ingressus Abe, ingressu Afh len Vc. 

representative of LXX ff(p6dpa ; cp. recollection of Juvenc. III. 639 Da- 

40; 6. uic/is origine creto \ osanna' exceisis 

28. tibi] uenit tibi manstutus in sit gloria laeta troph(uisl Theread- 

the Vulgate of Mt. Probably both ing/r^/r/Vj would give a poor sense 

there and here tibi=aJ te, governed in the text and would be a gloss on 

by the verb, not by the adj. stropheis. Ducange quotes zonam 

29 f. Joh. xii. 13. die strop hium, a^nd pretiosum etiam 

32 f. Cp. Mt. xxi. 8 f. The stropheum ijtum cingebcU. In Mss a 

obuiam is from St John. final s before another s is often 

34. The que has practically no omitted. Blume reads quidam sa- 

copulative force, but merely marks /w/zj/ro'/rm etc., which he explains 

the predicate, as often in Fort. e.g. 'covered the way of the Saviour' 

yiii. iii. 120. (cp. 23. 14 note), but this does not 

36. 49. 33. seem suitable here. He also reads 

37 f. ' Some loosing their girdles with a carelessly written MS, Veron. 

covered the way with their gar- ca\i. y.c, m -^(^ pluresque flores catuii- 

ments, and many with bright flowers dumcXc. Withyfor^ used collectively 

prepared a road for the Lx)rd.' The in the singular cp. 36. 18 gramina 

loosing of the girdles would be a Jiorefauent,]\x\€nc.ni.6nqt4aque 

necessary preliminary to taking off iter est Christo subnexa fronde coro- 

the outer cloaks, stropheis has the nant ; Verg. Georg. il. 72. 

merit not only of giving a good 40. parabant seems almost to 

sense but also of accounting for the mean 'decked,' like the French 

variant tropluieis, which can hardly parer. Cp. 73. 4. 

be right, and which may also have 41 f. Mt. xxi. 10. ciuilas in late 

come into the text of mss from a Latin c-ame to take the place of 



340 BA RL V LA TIN H YMNS 

Hebraea proles aurea 
. - laudes ferebat debitas. 

nos ergo tanto iudici 45 

curramus omnes obuiam ; 
palmas gerentes gloriae 
mente canamus sobria. 

43 prolis Bb la. 44 ferebant Hb^ la. domino (pro deb.) Aa. 

45 tanti iudici(s) Abf Vs. sui famuli [pro t. i.) Bb. 46 omn. curr. Bb 

Hd. 47 palmam Abdg Bb Vs^. ferentes Vc, tegentes Bb. 

urbs and oppidum, and survives in 44. laudes... debitas] 1. 2. 

the Italian ciitci, French citi, our 45. nos] emphatic, as well as the 

city; whereas urbs and oppidum Hebrew children, 

died out in vulgar talk and writing 46. Cp. 41. 40. 

and are not used e.g. in the Aethe- 47. gloriae] ' palms of praise,' 

riae Peregrinatio ; cp. 119. 16. i.e. consisting of praise. Cp. Theo- 

43. If this hymn was known, as AyAi hi tibi passuro soltubant munia 

it probably was, to Theodulf, proles laudis, \ nos tibi regnanti pangimus 

aurea perhaps suggested his puerile ecce melos. 

decus. 48. mente... sobria] 6. 16. 



For Maundy Thursday. Hymn 105 

This hymn seems to be from the same hand as the 
foregoing. 

Aabdeghk Fs Hbd Ihn Vaps 
Hymnum dicamus Domino, 
laudes Deo cum cantico, 
qui nos crucis patibulo 
suo redemit sanguine. 

die decursa ad uesperum, 5 

qua Christus morti traditur, 

2 fratres [pro laud.) Hbd In Vs. 5 diei cursus Hbd Ihn Vs. 

6 quo Hbd In Vs, quia Ae. 

I. For the phrase hymnum dica- in Luc. vil. 5 dicat et tibi de pati- 

mus cp. 1. r hymnum dicat. bulo crucis Christus. For patibulo 

1. cum cantico] from Ps. Ixviii. cp. 34. 4 note. 
31; cp. 65. 8. /awf/^.f is of course in 5. decursa] 'having run its 

apposition to hymnum. For Deus course,' lit. 'having been run 

in this connexion see Acts xx. 28. through' ; cp. Ambr. Hex. in. 48 

3. crucis patibulo] Cp. Ambr. decurso aetatis flore; Prud. Perist. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN CV 341 

ad cenam uenit impius, 
qui erat Christi proditor. 

lesus futura nuntiat 

cenantibus discipulis ; 10 

' unus ex discumbentibus 

ipse me traditurus est.' 

ludas, mercator pessimus, 

osculo petit Dominum; 

ille, ut agnus innocens, 15 

non negat ludae osculum. 

denariorum numero 

Christus ludaeis traditur 

innocens et innoxius, 

quem ludas tradit impius. 20 

praeses Pilatus proclamat: 
'nullam culpam inuenio'; 
ablutis aqua manibus 
Christum ludaeis tradidit. 

phalanx ludaea impia 25 

9 nuntians Aa Hbd Ihn Vs. lo apostolis Hb. 12 hie (pro ipse) 

Aa. 14 osculum Hd. domino Hbd Ih Vs. 16 negauit Hbd' Vs. 

l^ numerum Ih. 18 christum... tradidit Hd Ihn Vs. 19 innocentem 
pro noxiis Ihn Vs. 20 tradidit Aa^h Hd Ih Vs. 25 fallax Hd 

Ih Ys, fallaces ludei impii...petunt Aabdegh Vap. 

XI. 195 decursis mensibtts ; Fort. pro ttoxiis. For innoxius see note 

III. vi. 8 tempore decurso\ 91. 3. on 22. 12 noxa. 

The Thesaurus gives further in- 21. praeses] 1. 35. 

stances from Plautus, Lucretius, and 22. Lk. xxiii. 4, 14, 22. 

many late authors. 23 f. Mt. xxvii. 24 f. 

6. traditur] Cp. lines 12, 18, 25. phalanx ludaea impla] ' The 

20, 24. Jews, a horde of unbelievers.' The 

12. ipse] =' actually one ' etc. reading /Aa/a«a-, written ya/fi«x, is 

13. 'Judas basest of hucksters,' doubtless the original, accounting 
Mt. xxvi. 14 f. ; but perhaps the as it does for the falla,v of so many 
superlative is hardly intended, see mss, which would itself jar with the 
94. 13. further epithet i>///a ; while^/Zarw 

14. 1. 32,31. 73 f. ludaei impii would be a gloss 

15. agnus] Is. liii. 7. written o\tx fallax Indaea impia, 
19. 'without harm or guilt': when this had supplanted /^^»tx 

perhaps an echo of 1. 39 innocens /. 1. The word phalanx is used by 



342 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

latronem petit uiuere, 
Christum accusat grauiter : 
' crucifigatur, reus est.' 

et Barrabas dimittitur, 

qui reus mortis fuerat; 30 

uita mundi suspenditur, 

per quem resurgunt mortui. 

27 accusant Vp. 29 om. et Aabdeg Va. 30 morti Aa'^'bd^gh Ih. 

Prud. Psych, 816; Sedul. Carw. 26. 'beg a robber's life' = M/ 

III. 83, Op. III. 7, always in a con- latro uiuat. 

temptuous sense ; cp. Rdnschp.244. 28. Mt. xxvi. 66, xxvii. 23. 

ludaea] the Jewish nation per- 30. reus mortis] ' condemned to 

sonified, as at 1. 52. death.' 

impia] 4. 27 note. 31 f. imitated from 10. 27, 30. 

Hymn 106 

This hymn concerning the consecration of the Chrism 
is largely made up of extracts from Prudentius Cath. ix 
and Peristeph. II. The metre is trochaic tetrameter as 
are i, 23, 33, 119, 120. Notice the rhyme, especially in 8, 
9, 12, one of the earliest instances of this kind of rhyme 
within a trochaic verse. The first line is sung as a refrain 
after each stanza. 

Ekw Gx. Vide Analecta Hymnica LI p. 80. 
O Redemptor, sume carmen teniet concinentium. 
Audi, iudex mortuorum, una spes mortalium, 
audi uoces proferentum donum pacis praeuium. 
arbor feta alma luce hoc sacrandum protulit, 
fert hoc prona praesens turba saluatori saeculi. 5 

I summe Ekw. 3 proferentium Gx. 

2. iudex mortuorum] 23. 25 Spiritu 24. 14. Prud. Apoth. 372 
( = Prud. Cath. ix. 106). nuviinis almum lumen. 

3. pacis praeuium] 'that leads hoc] rfi?««/«. 

the way of peace,' 27. 32 {Cath. v. 5. prona] used like 62. 31 cernui. 

v^(i) pacijici chrismatis. /w«7« is common in the Vulgate of 

4. f. alma luce] ' fertilized by the eastern obeisance, 
the light of grace ' ; like f. sanctd 



LATER HYMNAL, HYMN CVI 343 

stans ad aram immo supplex infulatus pontifex, 
debitum persoluit omne consecrate chrismate. 

consecrare tu dignare, rex perennis patriae, 

hoc oHuum, signum uiuum iura contra daemonum, 

ut nouetur sexus omnis unctione chrismatis, 10 

et medetur sauciata dignitatis gloria. 

lota fronte sacro fonte aufugantur crimina, 
uncta fronte sacrosaneta influunt charismata. 

12 leta mente Ew. sacrosaneta {pro s. fonte) Ew. 13 influant Gx. 



6. immo corrects or enhances 
stans ad a., 'standing..., yea and 
kneeling.' 

infulatus] * mitred.' In the old 
Roman Pagan cult the infula was a 
head-dress of white or red wool, 
the two tails of which were kept in 
place by a band (uittd). It was 
worn by priests (Cic. Verr. iv. 50 
sacerdotes Cereris cum infulis, Verg. 
Aen. X. 537 sacerdos, \ infula cui 
sacra redimibat tempora uittd)., by 
Vestal Virgins, later by the em- 
perors and such magistrates as were 
sacro.sanct. The word was taken 
over by Christian writers and in 
later times (VIII or IXth cent, and 
onwards) identified with the bishop's 
initra. Krieg (in Kraus li. 213) 
denies that up to this date bishops, 
as such, wore any head-dress. Ap- 
parent exceptions to the contrary he 
explains as the metaphorical lan- 
guage of poets, infulatus is in fact 
a part of the metaphor of pontifex. 
Cp. Prud. Cath. IX. 5 Dauid...rex 
sacerdos... infulatus, id. Perist. iv. 
79 sacerdotum donius infulata Va- 
leriorum \ Ennod. Epigr. 77 Am- 
brosius . . .serta rediniitus gestabat lu- 
cida fronte. Krieg quotes Tert. de 
Coron. Mil. X qiiis denique... apo- 
stolus ant euangelista aut episcopus 
inuenitur coronatus ? Cheelham 
[Diet. Christ. Antiq. I. 838) quotes 
Gelasius as ' wishing to say that a 



certain person ought to be rejected 
from the Christian priesthood,' 
clericalibus infulis reprohabilis. See 
the same Diet. sv. Mitre. 

7. debitum p. omne] from Prud. 
Perist. I. 62. 

9. signum u.] l)ecause applied 
crosswise. 

10. <ivax^'\ = uterque, a sense it 
sometimes bears in late Latin. 
Lcifstedt Beitrdge p. 107 f. gives 
several instances. Similarly Ambr. 
Hex. VI. 56 alium sexum crinita 
dedecet, alium tonsa von decet, where 
we should expect alterum. 

1 1. medetur] passive, as from an 
active medere, which is found in 
V^ell. II. XXV. 4 aqucu medendis cor- 
poribus nobiles, P'ort. Vit. Mart. II. 
21 neque cura mederet alumnae. 
The overwhelming weight of MS 
evidence is against the reading me- 
deatur. We must not join medetur 
to nouetur, as if dependent on the 
ut : it must be treated as an inde- 
pendent statement, ' consecrate this 
oil,... and our injured honour is 
healed. ' For gloria in this sense cp. 
79. 7, 

12. Cp. 1. 63 f., [Damas.] ci. 5. 
The two lines express very clearly 
the distinctive benefits of the two 
parts of the baptismal sacrament. 

13. influunt charismata] Prud. 
Perist. I. \() fonte ab ipso dotm terris 
influunt ; 101. 10. 



344 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

corde natus ex parentis, aluum implens uirginis, 

praesta lucetn, claude mortem chrismatis consortibus. 15 

sit dies haec festa nobis saeculorum saeculis, 
sit sacrata digna laude, nee senescat tempore. 

IS damna {pro claude) Gx. 

14. Cp. 23. i=Prud. Caih. IX. 16. sit d. h. f. nobis] from Prud. 
10. Here natus stands for nate. Perist. I. 120, as is sacrata in 17. 

15. praesta lucem] Cath. ix. saeculorum saeculis] from Cath. 
^1 candidum praestat diem. ix. 114. 

Claude] ' bring to an end,' 36. 6 17. digna laude] 66. 7. 

clausit... mortis iter. Mone reads nee s. tempore] = almost Perist. 

with later Mss dampna, but sug- i. 82 ; cp. Nicet. de Symh. 2 qui non 

gests deme as the original, chr, mutatur temporibus nee senescil ae- 

consortibus seems like a reference to tate. 
Ps. xliv. 8. 

Hymn 107 

This hymn is found only in the Bangor Antiphonary, 
written A.D. 680-691. Daniel I p. 194 speaks of it as 
hymno nobili quadant simplicitate conspiciio. * Rugged 
and unpoetical as this hymn is, it has a certain pious 
simplicity about it which renders it well worthy of 
preservation. It is an early example of a metrical com- 
position, sung during the communion of the people. 
The Communio of the Latin, like the Koinonicon of 
the Eastern, Church, never now appears but as prose. — 
The present hymn seems not later than the seventh 
century ' (Neale Mediaeval Hymns p. 1 3). The absence of 
rhyme is a sign of early date. The metre is (rhythmic) 
iambic trimeter, not as Blume says 'ein jambischer 
Funfsilber und trochaischer katalektischer Dimeter ab- 
wechseln ' ; he and others print each line in two halves, as 
they also cut in two trochaic tetrameters. 



HYMN CVII 



345 



IK 
Sancti uenite, Christi corpus sumite, 
sanctum bibentes, qiio redempti sanguine. 
saluati Christi corpore et sanguine, 
a quo refecti laudes dicamus Deo. 
hoc Sacramento corporis et sanguinis 
omnes exuti ab inferni faucibus. 

dator salutis, Christus filius Dei, 

mundum saluauit per crucem et sanguinem. 

pro uniuersis inmolatus Dominus 
ipse sacerdos exstitit et hostia, 

lege praeceptum inmolari hostias, 
qua adumbrantur diuina mysteria. 
lucis indultor et saluator omnium 
praeclaram Sanctis largitus est gratiam. 
accedant omnes pura mente creduli, 
sumant aeternam salutis custodiam. 



IS 



lo existit IN. 

I f. sancti... sanctum reminds 
us of I Pet. i. 15 secundum eum qui 
uocauit uos sanctum et ipsi sancti 
sitis, and of the well-known litur- 
gical satuta satutis. 

2. ' drinking the holy blood by 
which ye were redeemed.' Daniel 
and Blume read sanguinem, but 
perhaps sanguine (the MS reading), 
attracted into the relative clause, is 
possible ; cp. Plant. Trin. 985 ilium 
quern ementitu''s is ego sum ipsus 
Charmides; 27. 27 note. But the 
copyist's eye may have caught sight 
oi sanguine in 3. 

3. salaati may perhaps be gram- 
matically attached to the preceding 
couplet, 'ye that are saved ' ; or, as 
seems to be the case with exuti 
three lines below, and again prae- 
ceptum in II, it may stand for a 
finite verb, ' We (or, ye) are .saved 
by ' etc. 

i). infemi faudbasj ' the jaws of 



15 accedunt IN. 



hell': cp. Verg. Aen. vi. 201 fau- 
ces... Auerni; ib. 11}, faucibus Orci. 
This use of exuere is not classical. 
7. dator salatis] 108. 4. 

10. exstitit] 38. 18 note. For 
the thought cp. Heb. ix. 14; Ambr. 
in Luc. Prol. 7 idem...et uitulus et 
sacerdos. ipse = idem . 

11. praeceptum] impersonal, 'it 
was commanded.' 

12. Heb. X. I umbram...habens 
lex futurorum bonorum. 

13. Indultor] 'giver,' cp. 103. 10 
indulges. 

15. So in the Communion Office: 
' Draw near and take this holy 
sacrament to your comfort,' and the 
/uera tp6fiov Otov TpoaiXOert in the 
Liturgy of St James. 

pura mente] 21. 10. 
creduli] 1. 61. 

16. We should expect cuterntu, 
but salutis custcxiiam is treated as a 
kind of compound word. 



346 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

sanctorum custos, rector quoque, Dominus, 
uitae perennis largitor credentibus. 

caelestem panem dat esurientibus, 

de fonte uiuo praebet sitientibus. 20 

alpha et w ipse Christus Dominus 
uenit, uenturus iudicare homines. 

17. 'The Lord is the guardian Rev. i. 8, xxi. 6 ego sum a. et w put 
and guide of the holy.' into the third person. Probably 

1 8. uita^ perennis] 15. 20. w was taken to be 06 (two syl- 
larg^tor] 45. i, 98. i. lables) or the verse would be a 

19. caelestem panem] Joh. vi. syllable short. The form mega, 
j?5. which most editors read, is a modern 

20. de fonte uiuo] Joh. iv. 10, invention and cannot have been the 
Rev. xxi. 6 ego sitienti dabo de fonte original in this ancient hymn, 
aqucte uitae gratis. 22. ' He comes (in the sacrament) 

21. 'Christ the Lord Himself who will hereafter come to judge 
Cometh, who is the alpha and men.' 

omega ' (the beginning and the iudicare] for the inf. cp. 56. 4 

end), 23. 2 note. These words are locare, 85. lorimari, 86. 10 laxare. 



Hymn io8 

This hymn of the Vth or Vlth century is, like the 
foregoing, of Irish origin. It is handed down only in the 
Bangor Antiphonary and in a Bobbio MS, Turin G. V. 38 
(Xl/XIIth cent.). The title in Bangor Antiphonary is 
hymniis qiiando cerea benedicitur (\.e. the Paschal Candle), 
and this seems to have been the first purpose of the 
hymn, rather than a daily use at the lucernarium i.e. 
Vespers (see the introduction to 27). 

■ - • IKo 

'• Ignis creator igneus, 

lumen donator luminis, 
uitaque uitae conditor, 
dator salutis et salus : 

I. creator ig^tieus] nom. for voc. 3. uita] 10. 27 f. 

For the sense cp. 29. i Deus ignee 4. dator salutis] 107. 7. 

fans animarum. salus] 23. 14. 



HYMN evil I 



347 



ne noctis huius gaudia 
uigil lucema deserat, 
qui hominem non uis mori, 
da nostro lumen pectori. 
ex Aegypto migrantibus 
indulges geminam gratiam : 
nubis uelamen exhibes, 
noctumum lumen porrigis. 
nubis columna per diem 
uenientem plebem protegis, 
ignis columna ad uesperum 
noctem depellis lumine. 
e flamma famulum prouocas ; 
rubum non spernis spineam, 

6 lucernae lo. lo indulgens lo. 13 nobis lo. 

lo. 17 prouocans lo. 



15 



14 protegens 



5. noctis... gaudia] 37. sf. The 
ne seems to depend upon the fol- 
lowing da., .lumen. If so, the lucetna 
is interpreted spiritually. 

6. Cic. <ui Att. VII. vii. "j facerem 
diutius, nisi me lucema desereret. 

7. Ezek. xviii. 32 etc. 
gf. Exod. xiii. 21. 

12. porrigis] 'givest,' cp. Mt. 
vii. 9 niimqtiid lapidem porriget ei? 

14. uenientem plebem] 'Thy 
people on their way ' ; for this use 
of tienire — iter facere cp. Fort. VI. 
X. 64. Prud. Cath. v. 65 uses nian- 
tihus of the Israelites making their 
way from Egypt, and here uiantem 
would suit both sense and metre. 
On the other hand uenire is cor- 
rectly used from the standpoint of 
the Holy Land to which they came ; 
and from the metrical point of view 
it -is noticeable that this hymn thrice 
resolves a long syllable : 10 gemi- 
nam, 11 famulum ^nA here. This 
metrical feature appears in early 
hymns, but not often in later ones. 

1 7 f . Uhe stanza is based on Exod . 
UL' af., cp. Ambr. Hex. iv. 9 f . 
ignis... et inluminat et exurit. unde 



Deus uolens Moysi ostendere stuu 
operationis miraculum...in igne ui- 
sus esl in rubo, et rubus non exure- 
batur, sed tanium splendere ignis 
specie uidebalur.... Domini ignis in' 
luminare solet, exurere non solet, 
ac forte dicas : quomodo scriptutn 
est: ego sum ignis consumens?... 
non solet cons u mere nisi sola feccata. 
Ambr. also alludes to the Bush at 
de Spir. Satuto I. 145 uox ergo de 
flamma et in rubo flamma et flamma 
non noxia. urehatttr enim rubus et 
non exurebatur; eo qtwdillo mysterio 
Domintis figuraret quia inlumitta- 
turus spinas nostri corporis adue- 
niret ; nee consumpturus aerum- 
nosos sed mitigaturus aerumnas. 
prouocans for prouocas would per- 
haps improve the verse. 

18. Cp. Ambr. de Virginib. I. a 
Dominus...locutus est in sentibus. 
Deus nee ruhum est dedigttatus. 

rubum] fem. as in some Mss of 
Pmd. Cath. v. 31 Moyses nempe 
Deum spinifera in rubo | uidit con- 
spiruo lumine flamnuum ; id. Apotk. 
56 and 70. 



348 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



et, cum sis ignis concremans, 
non uris quod inluminas. 
fuco depasto nubilo 
tempus decoctis sordibus 
feruente sancto Spiritu 
carnem lucere ceream. 
secretis iam condis faui 
diuini mellis alitus ; 
cordis repurgans intimas 
uerbo replesti cellulas, 
exam en ut fetus noui 
ore praelectum, Spiritu, 

19 om. sis lo. 20 illuminans IS. 21 foco lo. 
24 carnis lo. creas lo. 25 condens I4<2. fauis lo. 

IS, repugnans lo. 28 cellulis lo. 30 praelicto lo. 



25 



30 

2 2 denoctils lo, 
27 repurgas 



19. Deut. iv. 24. 

20. Orosius aduersus Paganosvw. 
iii. I Christus...ti€re igftis ardens, 
quern qui sequitur t'nluminatur, qui 
temptat exuritur. 

11 i. ' Now it is time that the 
cloudy bee-bread should be con- 
sumed (the presence of which would 
spoil the wax) and all impurity 
boiled away, and that the waxen 
flesh should shine with the glow of 
the Holy Spirit.' Even as the bee- 
made wax is now to be lighted, so 
the newly baptized are to be illu- 
minated with the Spirit given in 
baptism. Lines 21, 22 describe the 
processes in the purifying of the 
wax, of which the paschal candle 
now to be lighted is made. 

fuco] Cp. Verg. Georg. iv. 39 
fucoqiie et floribus oras \ explent ; 
Ambr. Hex. V. 69 quid enim aliud 
est fauus nisi quaedatn castrorum 
species ? denique ab his praesepibus 
apium fucns arcetur. 

23. Cp. 63. 2. 

24. As plums are ' waxen ' be- 
cause of their appearance (Verg. 
Eel. II. 53), as the psalmist's heart 
is like wax (Ps. xxi. (xxii.) 15), 
as light is waxen betause it is 



fed by wax (Fort. v. v. 117 lux 
cerea) ; so the flesh, as here repre- 
sented by the catechumens, because 
it is to be lighted and to shine. The 
shining is suggested by the lighting 
of the taper and is the result of the 
Easter baptism. 

25 f. 'Thou storest now in the 
recesses of the comb the food (con- 
sisting) of the divine honey, and 
purifying the inmost cells of the 
heart Thou hast filled them with 
Thy word.' The wax of the taper 
has set the writer thinking about 
bees and he developes the meta- 
phor. Again, as also in next stanza, 
he is speaking of the newly bap- 
tized, who have tasted the baptismal 
honey. See note on 37. 11. 

26. alitiis] 'food,' 'dainties'; 
cp. Suet. Vita Verg. p. 57 (some 
us^)parentibus quotannis aurum ad 
abundantem alitum niittebat. 

29 f. ' That the swarm of the 
new brood, chosen by Thy mouth 
and Spirit, may leave their burdens 
and win heaven on wings free from 
care.' 

examen] Cp. Fort. iv. xi. 9 ex- 
amina fundens \ floribus aeternis 
mellijicauit apes. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN CIX 349 

relictis caelum sarcinis 
quaerat securis pinnulis. 

3 1 relectam IK*, relictum IK'. 

noui] i.e. made new by baptism, due to \hc praeledum above.] 

cp. 37. 20. sarcinis] ' burdens ' of cares or 

30. God's mouth is a phrase ex- other hindrances to the higher life, 
pressed or implied at 30. 30, Ps, C'p. S&\\\&xi. ad Eccl. \l. i^ expediti 
xxxii. (xxxiii.) 6. Perhaps from this omnibus sarcinis saltiatoris uiam 
latter passage, spiriiu oris eius, we sequuntur ; and for the sense Heb. 
might amend to oris. But, as this xii. i; Fort. Vit. Mart, 11, 388 
would hardly be altered in Mss, tramite difficili potuit quia pergere 
possibly ore. . . Spiritus is more likely, diues \ depositoqtie onere ascendit quia 
if any change is needed. liber in arcem. [It is possible that 

praeligere seems to be first found in relictis sarcinis etc. there is a re- 
in Cyprian Epist. xxxvil. i. turn to the imagery of stanzas III 

31. relictum, the reading of the and iv, though onera is the word 
older and better MS, is just possible : in the Vulgate for the burdens of 
' heaven deserted by reason of their Egypt.] 

burdens.' But the construction is 32. quaerat] perhaps 'obtain,' 

harsh, and relictis gives a much ' win,' as at 10. 2 2,71. 17. 
better sense. [Relictum is probably 

Easter. Hymn 109 

109, III and 61 are the only hymns common to both 
the earlier and later hymnals, with the exception of 
those written by Ambrose, and the first part of 42 ; see 
introduction thereto. This is probably because they 
were held in especial honour by reason of their early 
date. They may have been written by a younger con- 
temporary of Ambrose — possibly by Niceta of Reme- 
siana ; but not by Ambrose himself. 109 was always as- 
signed to Vespers at Easter, but in the modern Roman 
breviary in its rewritten form Ad regias agni dapes it is 
appointed for the First Sunday after Easter {dominica in 
albis). The hymn is rhymed almost throughout. 



350 



EARLY LA T.I N HYMNS 



Aa EacdghjIosvx57;/x^ Fabdhilprs^^ Gabm Habcdefi)3 Ibcdefghmnop 
Mk Vcs 

Ad cenam agni prouidi, 

stolis albis candidi, 

post transitum maris rubri 

Christo canamus principi. 

cuius sacrum corpusculum 5 

in ara crucis torridum ; 

2 ex stolis H/3, et stolis Eadgvx/t FdhirjS Ibdghv Vs, stolis in. Ej,' 
stolisque Aa lop. om. albis Aa. amicti candidis Fl Hb* Icefg^n Vc. 
5 corpus sanctissimum Aa Ea Fir Gm Hbd Ibcdefg^'hmn Mk^ Vcs. 



1. ' Looking forward to the sup- 
per of the Lamb ' ; Rev. xix. 9. 
Agni strikes at once the Paschal 
note. 

2 refers to the white robes of 
the newly baptized, which were worn 
from Easter Eve until the end of 
the 1st Sunday after Easter. The 
variants are so many attempts to 
mend the metre, because the copy- 
ists, especially in later times, did 
not see that stolis is a trisyll. to be 
scanned ?.f/tf//j ; see 89. 19. 

3. Cp. 1 Cor. X. I ; Aug. Serin. 
IV. 9 liberantur per mare ludaei, 
obruuntur in mari Aegyptii, libe- 
rantur Christiani in remissione pec- 
catoruniy delentur peccata per bap- 
tismtim. 

4 from 31. 3. 

5. * Whose sacred body is roasted 
on the altar of the cross.' 

sacrum corpuBCulmu] The variant 
corpus sanctissimum was no doubt 
due to a reverent feeling that the 
diminutive form was here out of 
place. But this form was used e.g. 
by Cyprian Epist. LXVIII. 12 quibus 
ablui et mundari corpusculum pos- 
sit. 

6. The cross on which Christ suf- 
fered was also the altar on which 
He, in the hymn, is regarded as the 
victim-lamb, ' roasted with fire,' 
Exod. xii. 9. crucis is a loose gen. 
of definition, torridum sc. est. This 
omission of est is very common : 



Leo (Fortunatus p. 399) refers to 
33. 19 amongst many instances. 
Others take corpusculum as ace. 
after gustando ; but this is rather a 
gerundive agreeing with cruore^ not 
a gerund. The difficulty of the pas- 
sage is that there was no altar in 
the case of the original Paschal Lamb 
in Exodus, and the roasting with 
fire was for the purpose of eating, 
not for that of sacrifice. The writer 
doubtless alludes to the roasting in 
torridum ; if so, he mystically con- 
fuses two separate things — the 
roasting of the Passover and the 
burning of the daily sacrifice upon 
the altar, torrere in the Vulgate is 
the regular word for ' frying ' ; Lev. 
ii. 14 of the first-fruits of corn; 
I Chron.xxiii. 29 for. that which is 
fried ; 2 Mace. vii. 5 of the martyr 
to be fried in the pan ; in Is. xxv. 5, 
a very corrupt passage, sub nube 
torrente seems to mean ' under a 
scorching cloud.' It is only a slight 
objection to this view that the Latin 
versions in Ex. xii. 9 have assum, 
assatum, not tostum. Thus the 
hymn would mean that our Lord's 
body was, as it were, ' roasted ' 
( ' fried,' ' scorched ') for our food by 
the fire of God's wrath against sin, 
as the Paschal Lamb was roasted. 
This was done on the Cross ; but 
the metaphor is complicated by the 
insertion of the thought of the ara. 
The same thought is applied to 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN CIX 



35 >^ 



cruore eius roseo 
gustando uiuimus Deo. 

protect! paschae uespero 
a deuastante angelo, 
erepti de durissimo 
Pharaonis imperio. 

iam pascha nostrum Christus est, 
qui inmolatus agnus est ; 
sinceritatis azyma 
caro eius oblata est. 



15 



7 cruoreni...roseum Aa HbM'* Iv. et eius Hb*. 9 profecti Fa. 

uespere Eacdjsvyu<^ Gm HbcMef^ Ic (-ri Ga), uesperum Eo Fa^ Gb', ad 
uesperum Fb. 10 devastando Faf . 11 erecti Ev. 15 azimo Ic, 

anima F^. 16 oblita Aa. 



Christ considered as the Paschal 
Bread : see Brevint Christian Sacra- 
ment and Sacrifice p. 13 (ed. 1847) 
' I behold in this bread, dried up, 
and baked, and burnt at the fire, 
the fiery wrath which He suffered 
for me from above, and from the 
hand of His own Father.' 

Clicht. explains torridiini as igne 
passionis et doloris acerbitate excoc- 
tum. Lipp translates it ' numbed,' 
op. Liv. xxi. 32 torrida frigore^\ but 
this explanation misses the point, 
that Christ is the paschal lamb. 

7. ' By drinking His rosy blood 
we live unto Go<l.' Neale Mediaeval 
Hymns p. vii says : ' The poet 
would tell us that, though- one drop 
of our Lord's Blood was sufficient 
to redeem the world (cuius una stilla 
saluum facere \ totum mtindum quit 
ab omni scelere, as S. Thomas says), 
yet out of the greatness of His love 
to us He would shed all. As every 
one knows, the last drainings of life- 
blood are not crimson, but of a far 
paler hue : strictly speaking, ro- 
seate.' But this is farfetched. Cp. 
Analecta xxvil. cxxvii. 23 f. uiscera 
martyris \ profundunt roseifiuinina 
Sanguinis. 



8. uiuimus Deo] Cp. Lk. xx. 
38, Rom. vi. 10 f.. Gal. ii. 19. 

9. protecti and erepti in 1 1 might 
agree with the subject of uiuimus in 
8, but perhaps we are intended to 
understand sumus, as in 6 {est). 

uespero] ' on the eve,* appears to 
be the right reading, as is shewn by 
the rhyme ; cp. the note on 84. 9. 

10. Cp. 41. 10. 

1 1 f. Mone quotes Aug. Diu. 
Quaes t. LXI. 2 Christo duce ab one- 
ribus et labor ibus huius peregrina- 
tionis nostrae tamquam ab Aegypto 
liberamur, et persequentia nos pec- 
caia Sacramento baptismatis twbis 
euadentibus obruuntiir. Cp. Ambr. 
Hex. I. 4. 14 deserit qui abluitur in- 
tellegibilem ilium Pharao, princi- 
pem istius mundi; in Ps. cxvill. 
xii. 36 Dominus lesus, agnus Dei., 
mundi hostia, soluit nos grauium 
nexibus delictorum, quibus Pharao 
ille taeterrimus, non unius Aegypti 
sed saeculi istius princeps, uinculo 
seruitii grauis nos tenebal astrictos. 

13 f. I Cor. V. 7. 

15. 'His flesh, the unleavened 
bread of sincerity, is offered up ' t 
i.e. free from 'the leaven of malice 
and wickedness.' The paschal lamb 



352 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



o uera digna hostia, 

per quam fracta sunt tartara ; 

redempta plebs captiuata, 

reddita uitae praemia. 20 

consurgit Christus tumulo, 
uictor redit de barathro, 
tyrannum trudens uinculo 
et reserans paradisum. 

17 uere Eajv^ Fbdp Gm Hi Ihno^ Vcs, uera et Aa Esyti Imo'p*. 
18 quern Aa Es Fab Gm H/3 Ip Vs. 19 red. est E5. captiua Fb. 

20 reddito Fa' Hb' Mk. uita E3 F^ Igp. praemio Fa'b HbH Ihn Mk. 
redit ad u. p. Ex^ Gm He, reddit ad u. p. lb. 21 cum surgit Fb Igi, 

consurgens Fr. 23 tradens Eo H^ Mk. uinculum Aa. 24 paradiso 
Fa^t. 



was to be without blemish, Exod. 
xii. 5. Of course there is a reference 
to the prohibition of leaven during 
the passover. Here, as in 6, two 
types are fused together : the un- 
leavened bread was not 'offered.' 

17 f. ' O true and worthy victim, 
by whom the powers of hell are 
broken, the enslaved people is re- 
deemed, the prizes of life are re- 
stored.' Daniel I. 89 notes the 
climax : non solum fracta sunt tar- 
tara, sed etiam plebs in uiiuula 
coniecta liber at ur. ace edit tertium : 
redduntur ipsi uitae beatae dona. 
The reference is to the ' harrowing 
of hell.' The want of connecting 
particles adds to the strength of the 
stanza. 

18. tartara] 23. 11 note. 

19. captiuata] Cp. i Mac. xv. 
^o coepit . . .captiuare populum ; Rom. 
vii. 23 aliam legem ., .captiuantem 
me ; 114. 10. 

20. Damas. XIII. 8 Christus, qui 
reddit praemia uitae. Mone, not 
seeing that reddita stands for reddita 
sunt, reads with the later MSS redit 
ad u. praemia, taking these words 
in connexion with 19. This com- 
plicates the construction of 19 and 
destroys the vigour of the stanza. 

21. consurgit is stronger than 



cum surgit, which Daniel, Mone 
and Blume read. Strictly speaking 
the tomb of Christ was not a tumu- 
lus, though Fortunatus, as at 36. 
39, and others use the word ; and 
the abl. without preposition is harsh. 

22. The ^dpadpou was a deep 
yawning pit at Athens into which 
the lowest criminals were thrown. 
[Damas.] xxvii. 7 uses it of a dun- 
geon, and it was often used to denote 
' hell ' ; cp. Lucr. in. 979 nee quis- 
quam in barathrum nee Tartara 
deditur atra; Jud. v. 15 (Vulgate); 
Prud. Cath. XI. 39 mancipatam 
fumido uitam barathro inmerse- 
rant ; id. Apoth. 785 inferni petal 
ima poll barathroque loquatur ; Ju- 
venc. IV. 286. 

23. Rev. XX. 2. 

trudens] ' thrusting ' ; Ambr. in 
Ps. CXVIII. xii. 31 Irusus in car- 
cerem ; in Luc. vi. 45 in abyssos se 
esse trudendam ; Prud. Nol. Carm. 
XIX. 243 infemis male trusus car- 
ceribus.^ uinculo must be taken for 
dative = /« uinculum. trudens is a 
more emphatic word than tradens, 
which Mone prefers. 

24. The reference is to Gen. iii. 
24, perhaps combined with Lk. xxiii. 
43. For the sake of the rhyme 
Mone would xczAreserato paradiso% 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN CX 353 

quaesumus, auctor omnium, 25 

in hoc paschali gaudio 

ab omni mortis impetu 

tuum defendas populura. 

28 defende Aa EasAi Gm Hbd Icgn Mk Vc. 

but at the time when the hymn it was appended to other hymns, 

was written o and « were pro- But it seems to form a part of this 

nounced much alike, and the final hymn, for it is almost always found 

m ol paradisum would scarcely be here, either in full or abbreviated, 

sounded. and in most MSS a further doxolc^ 

25 f. That this last stanza is a is added : Gloria tibi Domine, \ qui 

kind of doxology is shewn by the surrexisti a mortuis, \ cum Patre et 

facts that in some MSS only the first sancto Spiritu \ in sempiUma sae- 

few words are written here and that cula. 

Hymn iio 
This hymn no was written for and used on Easter 
Day itself, not for the dominica in albis^ as Mone says, 
misled by his interpretation of line 9 : see the note on 
that line. In the Mozarabic use it is prescribed for 
Prime : see Analecta xxvil. 87. 

Edv^ Fdhirs/3 Gb Hbcdei Id Ma Vs 

Te, lucis auctor, personant 
huius cateruae carmina, 
quam tu replesti gratia 
anastasis potentia. 

nobis dies haec innuit 5 

diem supremum sistere, 
I personent Ev^ FdhM Hbd. 5 haec dies Hbcde. 

1. te... personant] Cp. 2. 31. \yi\\\. i\ die autem dominica txsul- 

2. cateruae means perhaps the tatidum propheta docet, dicens : hie 
newly baptized who make their first est dies quern fecit Dominus ; and 
communion that day, cp. plebs at the introd. to 10, p. 77- But Caesar 
36. 51. But the words may have a uses both genders m the same con- 
wider bearing. text and with the same meaning, 

4. anastasia] 'the resurrection,' B.G.\.s\.^. 

a Greek word used also at 48. 20, 6. sistere] sistere dietn ^stato die) 

here declined as a Latin word. is a regular expression for ' fixing a 

5f. The change in the gender of day ('on a fixed day ), especially 

dies seems to be made for the sake for a trial. Here ustere must be 

of distinction ; cp. Ambr. Epist. taken intransiUvely, ' that a last day 

w. »3 



354 



EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 



quo mortuos resurgere 
uitaeque fas sit reddere. 

octaua prima redditur, 
cum mors ab unda toUitur, 
dum mente circumcidimur 
nouique demum nascimur ; 

cum mane nostrum cernimus 
redisse uictis hostibus, 
mundique luxum temnimus, 
panem salutis sumimus. 



IS 



7 qua Hi, quam Ma. 8 fassis Id Ma (fas sis He), faxis Hb (in tnarg. 
uel fas sit). lo dum Fd. abunde Hi^, habundat Fi Hcd. 13 dum 

E^ Hbde, eum Fi. 16 panemque nostrum Hbcde. 



stands fixed.' It seems a somewhat 
curious turn for an Easter hymn to 
take. 

7. 'on which it is granted that 
the dead should rise again and re- 
turn to life.' 

8. ultae] dat. as 35. 11 redeunt 
uitae. 

fas] ' the divine will.' The diffi- 
culty of the passage has caused the 
yz.x'\2JViXs fassis, fas sis, faxis. 

reddere] The word, which stands 
in all the MSS without variant, is 
used intransitively = r£fl??y^. In like 
manner Fort. Vita Germ. XXX. 88b. 
18. 7 perdii sermo,=- peril. Or per- 
haps, with a violent change of the 
subject : ' that the dead should rise 
again and to restore them to life.' 

9. ' The eighth day becomes the 
first.' That this is the meaning is 
shewn by the following passages. 
Ambr. in Ps. CXVIII. prol. 1 pri- 
tnogenita offerimus octaua die, qua 
omnes in Chris ti resurrectione non 
solum resuscitati sed etiam confir- 
mati sumus ; in Luc. vil. 6 octaua 
enim die facta est resurrectio ; ib. 
173 in octauo numero resurrectionis 
est plenitudo ; Aug. de Serm. Dom. 
1. 12 significatur fortasse Domini 
resurrectione post sabbatum, qui est 
utique octauus idemque primus dies. 



et celebratione octauarum feriarum ; 
Mone I. 73 f. octaua praestat ceteris \ 
aetatibus sublimior, \ cum mortui 
de pristino \ terrae resurgent agger e. 
See also 62. i note. 

10. 'on which death is destroyed 
by the (baptismal) water ' ; but per- 
haps with an allusion also to the 
Red Sea. ab was used to denote 
the instrument by the Augustan 
poets, esp. Ovid, and then by late 
writers of prose as well as of verse. 
The use arose from the local sense 
of ab as is clearly shewn by Prud. 
Hamart. 257 auri namque fames 
parte fit maiorab auro, Schmalz 383. 
The variants abunde, habundat may 
have been caused by a recollection 
of Rom. V. 20. 

11. Cp. Rom. ii. 29; Col. ii. 11 
foil. 

12. 'and we are born new in- 
deed ' ; demum as at 85. 13. 

I3f. The relation between the 
various parts of this and the fore- 
going stanza are rather complicated. 

The dum (11) seems evidently to 
refer to the same moment as cum 
(lo), and indeed probably means, 
as so often, much the same as nam. 
Our ' circumcision ' is coincident 
with our baptism. Then cum (13) 
seems to repeat cum (10). 



LATER HYMNAL, HYMN CX 



355 



leiuniorum uictimis 
corpus litamur aridis, 
piisque parsimoniis 
sacris potamur hostiis. 

haec alma sit sollemnitas, 
sit clara haec festiuitas, 
sit feriata gaudiis 



20 



17—20 om. Kvip Fdhir/3 Hbdei Id. 



20 potimur Ma. 



But how does 1 5 come in ? It 
would seem curious to fix Easter 
Day as the day when we 'de- 
spise the world's self-indulgence.' 
The explanation seems to be that 
mundi I. t. carries out the thought of 
iiictis hostibus. Perhaps we are to 
emphasize temntmus, ' the foes are 
conquered, and we look with con- 
tempt upon the self-indulgence,' as 
the Israelites upon the dead Egyp- 
tians in the morning. Then mundi 
/. is again contrasted with panetn s. 
sumimus needs no connecting par- 
ticle, but stands parallel to temnt- 
mus, and, with it, is coupled by the 
que to the sentence under cum (13) ; 
'we look with contempt upon self- 
indulgence and take instead the 
bread of salvation ' in the Easter 
Communion. 

mane nostrum] ' our morning,' 
i.e. Christ. There is perhaps an 
allusion to Ex. xiv. 27 f. For fnane 
used as a subst. cp. 17. 5. 

1 7 f. The Prudentian verses 26. 
5 f. guide us to the understanding of 
this difficult stanza, lilare is used 
in its weakened, but not uncommon, 
sense of to sacrifice, and corpus is 
the ace. of the ' part affected.' ' Our 
bodies have been sacrificed by the 
dry offering of our Lenten fast, and 
through dutiful abstinences we are 
given sacred oblations to drink.' 
The verses thus carry on the thought 
of 15 and 16. 

It is partly perhaps the difficulty 
of this stanza that has caused it 
to be omitted in some Mss, but 



chiefly also its seeming unsuitability 
in an Easter hymn. Some have been 
inclined to doubt, even of late, if it 
be not an interpolation, see Ana- 
lecta XXVII p. 87. 

For uictima (and its synonym 
hostia) used in this somewhat en- 
larged sense, see 24. 6, 96. 18 and 
the Index. It will be seen that the 
singular uictima is sometimes used 
of many offerings classed together, 
and sometimes the plural occurs 
where a collective singular might 
have been expected. 

18. aridis] 'dry,' gets the meaning 
of ' chaste ' by way of contrast with 
uuidus 'debauched' in 25. 7. In 
like manner siccus comes to mean 
'sober' at Hor. Od. iv. v. 39. 

20. potamnr] passive voTi^biuda.. 
Ps. Ixviii. (Ixix.) 22 potauerunt me 
a^eto ; i Cor. xii. 1 3 in una spiritu 
potati sumus ; Ambr. in Luc. v. 72 
lacte potantur; Sedul. Op. i. i^ pas- 
tusfaeno, potatusfluuio ; Fort. XI. 2 1 
cueto uel felle aut uino murrato po- 
tatus ; ib. 2 2 felie. . .potatur. Konsch 
376 gives several other instances of 
the transitive use oi potare. 

21. Mone compares Greg. ^<?OT. 
in Euang. il. xxii. 6 sicut in sacro 
eloquio sancta sanctorum uel cantica 
canticorum pro sui magnitudine 
dicuntur, ita haec festiuitas (i.e. 
Easter) recte did potest sollemnitas 
sollemnitatum ; cp. Mone CLXlll. i 
haec est sancta sollemnitas sollemni- 
tatum, insignita triumpho Christi. 

23. feriari est requiescere ab opere 
et otium agere, intermissa quotidiana 

33—2 



356 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

dies reducta ab inferis. 

opera says Clicht. Hence feriata and all that can be called day along 

used passively = ' celebrated as a with Him, cp. 13, 3. 4, 61. i, and 

holiday.' especially 36. 48, 37. 8. 
34. dies] 'our day,' i.e. Christ 

Hymn hi 

This hymn, which bears every mark of great antiquity, 
is of universal diffusion. VA-Mvao. Analecta LI p. 90 remarks 
that (except the hymns of St Ambrose) this and Christe 
qui lux es et dies (61) are the only two hymns which are 
found alike in the ancient Irish hymnaries and in those 
other than Irish, 

It is appointed for Lauds on Easter Day and through- 
out the season ; but it was soon broken up into portions, 
one of which was used at Terce, and one at Sext. 

Eacdgjlosvxij/u^ Fabdhilps;3^ Gabm Habcdei labcdefhmnopv Mx Vcs 

Aurora lucis rutilat, 
caelum laudibus intonat, 
mundus exultans iubilat, 
gemens infernus ululat, 

cum rex ille fortissimus 5 

mortis confractis uiribus 
pede conculcans tartara 
soluit catena miseros. 

ille, qui clausus lapide 
: custoditur sub milite, 10 

1 rutilans Hd. 2 laudabilis Fa. 3 exultat Fi Gm Im (exulta la).; 

6 iuribus la. 7 tartaros Fab^ Gab. 8 a poena Eac%jsvx7//i0 Fhi 

Gnx Hbdei^ Ibcdehmp^v Vcs. 10 limite Hd. 

1. Cp. 70. 1. 8. catena] 36. 45, 37. 15. The 

2. intonat] 86. i. descent into hell is referred to : the 
5. fortissimus] 'most mighty,' less definite «/<)«/a of many mss is 

84. 14, cp. 41. 17. inferior. 

7. conculcans] often in O.T., 9. lapide] 36. 40 f. 

e.g. Ps. xc. (xci.) 13 conculcabis 10. milite] 1. 47. The collective 

leonem. use of this word in the sing, is 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN CXI 357 

triumphans pompa nobile 
uictor surgit de funere. 

solutis iam gemitibus 

et infemi doloribus, 

quia surrexit Dominus 15 

splendens clamat angelus. 

tristes erant apostoli 

de nece sui Domini, 

quem poena mortis crudeli 

serui damnarunt impii. 20 

sermone blando angelus 
praedixit mulieribus : 
* in Galilaea Dominus 
uidendus est quantocius.' 

illae dum pergunt concite 25 

apostolis hoc dicere, 

12 6 Es. 16 resplendens Eacd^gjlsvi;/* Fbdihlp/3 Gb(»ia«« rec.)m 

Hbd Ibcdefhmnp^ Vcs. clamabat Ex^ Hei (nianti rec.) Iv, clamitat lo, 
damans la. 19 morte Vs^ crudelis Gm Hd' la Vs^ to saeui 

Ed^jsv/t^ F^ Ga Hab'cei laop, saeue HbM Id Vs. damnarant Eg/t Fdhip 
Gab lefv Vc (-rent Fi/'), damnauenmt Fa la. impie EcJM lav Vcs. 
21 blandus Gm. 22 praedicit Eo Fb^ Hac la. 25 pergent Fa. 

concitae Hde Vs. 26 haec Mx. 

common in poets, Verg. Aen. 11. (1. 58). But eventually it was dis- 

495 loca milite complent, and even used, whereas quod passed on into 

in the prose of Livy and Tacitus. the Romance languages ; Schmalz 

II. nobile] ablative. Most of the p. 544, Ronsch pp. 402, 481, Kaulen 

MSS give nobili, but the three good Handbttch zur Vulgata p. 211. 

Mss Eo Fa Gb have nobile. 16. The variants point decisively 

15. 'a shining angel cries out to the original text ispUndens cla- 

"The Lord is risen."' Mt. xxviii. mat angelus ; seep. 350. 

2f.,l. 49. quia surrexit Dominus 20. serui is in pointed opposition 

= surrexisse Dominum as at Mt. X.o Domini in i8; cp. 40. 13 f. 

xxviii. 7 dicite discipulis eius quia 21. Verg. Aen. I. 670 blandis 

sutyexit. The literary history of uocibus. 

this usage oi qttia begins with the 22. praedixit takes up the words 

Itala of Tert. ; the usage was taken of the angel at .Mt. xxviii. 7 ecce 

over into the Vulgate and became praecedit uos in. Galilaeam ; ibi eum 

common even in non-ecclesiastical uidebitis : ecce praedixi nobis. 

writers. For a time it was commoner 23 f. Mk xvi. 7. 

than the like construction of quod 24. quantodus] 'immediately.' 

with indie. (91. 25 etc.) or subj. Ronsch p. 231 among other late 



358 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

uidentes eum uiuere 
osculant pedes Domini. 

quo agnito discipuli 

in Galilaeam propere 30 

pergunt, uidere faciem 

desideratam Domini. 

claro paschali gaudio 

sol mundo nitet radio, 

cum Christum iam apostoli 35 

uisu cernunt corporeo. 

ostensa sibi uulnera 

in Christi carne fulgida 

resurrexisse Dominum 

uoce fatentur publica. 40 

28 osculantur EagjsxTjyit^ Fbdil Gab Habcdei labcdef hmnopv Vcs, ador- 
ant Ecdiv, appetunt Fh. dei Eagj Fb Ha^. 30 Galilaea Eo/U Fab Ga. 
properant F^. 33 paschale Eo Fa^. 34 mundum Es Fa Gb. 

nitens Fabi/' Gab Mx. 35 dum Ha. christo Fab Ga Hb^ 

40 fatetur Eo. 

instances of the word refers to the would get rid "t)f the difficulty of the 

edict of Licinius in Lact. Mort. passage by reading with one MS sol 

Pers. XLVIII. viii. 10 ut praeceptum mundo mittit radios, making mundo 

nostrum quaniocius compleatur\ = in mundum. 

Commodian Instruct, i. xxv. ^^ 37 f. ' When the dazzling wounds 

tamen uos adhortor quantocius ere- have been shewn to them (Joh. xx. 

dere Christo. 20)... they {apostoli of 35) declare in 

28. Mt. xxviii. 9. public speech....' ostensa... uulnera, 

osculant] Rdnsch p. 301 ; Titin. nom. or ace. abs. ; cp. 85. 7. This 

ap. Non. 476 osculaui priuignae ishtiX.QXihs.ntdi'king ostensa = ostensa 

caput. The word is elsewhere de- sunt. 

ponent. It is just possible, however, 38. fulgida may be taken either 

that we should read with some not with uulnera or with carne : per- 

very ancient MSS osculantur pedes haps the former is the more forcible. 

Dei, the variant Domini having Cp. the hymn Pone luctum Magda- 

been introduced from 32. lena (Trench p. 162) line 25 f. quin- 

33 might be taken closely with que plagas inspice : fulgent en ut 

the preceding stanza, awkwardly margariiae, ornamenta nouae uitae, 

perhaps, but no more so than 32. and ' Those dear tokens of His pas- 

8, 9 ; 28, 29. It is simpler however sion still His dazzling body bears.' 

to join it with nitet. 39. The resurrection was the 

paschali gaudio] 96. 19. core of the first preaching of the 

34. mundo] 'cleansed': even the apostles : see Acts i f. 
sun shines with a purer light. Mone 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN CXII 359 

rex Christe clementissime, 
tu corda nostra posside, 
ut tibi laudes debitas 
reddamus omni tempore, 

43- laudes debitas] 1. 2. That some other doxology, Gloria tibi 

tnis last stanza was regarded as a Domine qui surrexisti a mortuis or 

quasi-doxology is indicated by the Quaesumus auctor omnium or Deo 

tact that some MSS give only the patri sit gloria. 
first few words. But they all add 

Ascensiontide. Hymn 112 

Blume Analecta LI. 92 heads this hymn In Ascensione 
Domini. Ad Vesperas; but he notes (p. 93) that the 
usage varies. The Ambrosian use assigns it to the eve 
of the Ascension ; Werner to the first Nocturn. Various 
stanzas of it are omitted in various MSS. 

Abdegh Ecdjlv Fblps Hbd Icdefmn Vachps 
Optatus uotis omnium 
sacratus inluxit dies 
quo Christus, mundi spes, Deus 
conscendit caelos arduos. 

ascendens in altum Dominus, . 5 

propriam ad sedem remeans, 
gauisa sunt caeli regna 
reditu unigeniti. 

3 m. christus spes Elv Hbd Id, m. spes christus Ed. 5 om. in Ecj Fbp. 
6 om. ad Ab^dg. remeat Edlv Icen Vc. 8 redita Ev. 

1. Inluxit] 91. I. simple ace, cp. (scando) line 32, 

5. ascendens in altum Dominus] 1. 39, 44. 11, 113. 5; (comcendo) 

'as the Lord ascends on high.' It line 4 ; (ascmdo) 4. 2, 32. i, 116. i. 

seems best to treat these two lines as If we retain the in we must scan 

forming a nom. absolute: as at 111. Domniis, as in fact the word came 

37. The unmetrical reading of the to be written. 

MSS, in altum, might naturally come 6. Cp. [Damas.] LXVI. i ad 

from Eph. iv. 8 ascendens in altum, sedem propriam Deus exule morte 

cp. Ps. Ixvii. (Ixviii.) 19. In these resurgit. 

hymns the normal constniction of remeans] 36. 19. 

scando and its compounds is the 



36o EA RLY LA TIN H YMNS 

magno triumpho proelii, 

mundi perempto principe, lo 

Patris praesentans uultibus 

uictricis carnis gloriam, 

est eleuatus in nubibus 

et spem fecit credentibus, 

aperiens paradisum, 15 

quern protoplasti clauserant. 

o grande cunctis gaudium, 

quod partus nostrae uirginis 

post sputa, flagra, post crucem 

paternae sedi iungitur. 20 

agamus ergo gratias 
nostrae salutis uindici, 
nostrum quod corpus uexerit 
sublimem ad caeli regiam. 

sit nobis cum caelestibus 25 

commune manens gaudium : 

9 magni Abdgh Ed Ic. triumphi Vap^, triumphum Abdegh. proelium 
Vap^. 10 redemptor Ev. 1 1 praesentas Ec Vc, praesentis Fbp Hb. 

13 om. in Ecj Fbp Va. 16 protoplastus Id^, -to Ev Hd Im Vs, -tis 

Ae El. clauserat Ade Elv Idm Vs. 18 parte Ec. 22 iudici Fbp. 

24 sublime Fbp Hd* In Vc. gloriam Ed^, gratiam Ec. 26 mane Hd'*. 

9. triumpho proelii] 33. 1. Blume 19. sputa, flagra... crucem] 1. 

suggests that magni triumphi proe- 38 f. 

Hum is the original text, comparing 22. uindici] 94. 20. 

the ist line of 104. 23. quod... uexerit] 46. 11 note. 

10. mundi... principe] 15. 24. This Christ has done by ascending 

12. Cp. 6. 26 carnis tropaeo. to heaven in His human body, and 

13. nubibus] Acts i. 9. [Perhaps also by enabling our nature to hope 
the reading of several Mss in nube for heaven through His redemption 
would best account for the variants.] and ascension. 

14. Cp. 88. 10. 24. sublimem] 'lofty,' cp. Ju- 
16. protoplasti] 33. 4. Thisvcord venc. lli. 591 caeli sublimis in arce', 

usually denotes Adam, here Adam 120. 13. The variant sublime, 'on 

and Eve. Some copyists reserve it high,' might al.so stand, cp. Verg. 

to Adam alone by writing proto- Aen. I. 259 sublimemque feres ad 

plasto, ox protoplastus clauserat. sidera caeli \ magnaiiimum Aenean. 

18. nostrae] 'of our race'; cp. regiam] 27. 5, 41. 36. 

line 23. 25 f. sit... manens] Fort. Append. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN CXHI 361 

illis quod se praesentauit, 
nobis quod se non abstulit. 

nunc prouocatis actibus 

Christum exspectare nos decet, 30 

uitaque tali uiuere, 

quae possit caelum scandere. 

31 uitamq. talem Ev^ Ic. 32 ut (/r<? quae) Fb. caelos Ecdj Hd, 

caelo Hb, caelos possit El. 

y\l. \\ sic tua uita decens hoc sit in habitare mereatur in caelo, quae 

orbe matiens; cp. 44b. 8 note. caelesli uita uixit in saaulo. The 

29. prouocatis actibus] ' calling variant uitam talem gives the more 

forth all our energies,' ' zealous usual construction ; cp. Paul. Nol. 

conduct,' 47. 19, 63. 4. Carm. xxvi. 206 et merear semper 

3r. Ambr. de Virginib. II. 17 uittentis uiuere uitam. 
quanta angelorum laetitia, quod 

Hymn 113 
The most noteworthy fact concerning 113 is that a 
short version is found in two of the oldest MSS. The 
Moissac Ross. VIII. 144, after having given the hymn in 
the usual form on f. 16, gives it again on f 66 thus : 
Aeterne rex altissime, \ scandens tribunal dexterae \ Pa- 
tris, an rerum machina \ fiectit genu iam subdita. Then 
Tu Christe nostrum gaudiuin...'\.t. stanzas v-VIII. A 
IXth century MS in Paris has the same. Stanza IV is 
omitted. One can understand the expansion of a hymn, 
but abbreviation is very uncommon. It may be that the 
short form was the original and was afterwards expanded 
to the form in which the great majority of the MSS give 
it. The Mozarabic MSS insert further stanzas : 

after I : 

quern lex subacta tartari marcens auemo dispulit carens 
mucrone pessimo throno remisit patrio. 

after IV : 

nee sit saliis ullo modo tuo /oris uocabulo, a quo creata 
cuncta sunt et recreata, cuncta sunt. 



362 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

haectanta Christi gratia nexum tulit peccaminum, sump- 
sitque corpus proprium totumque possidet polum. 

after VI I : 

quae praeminet uirtutibus summis procul caelestibus 
Deus caro atque spiritus, plenus Deus uerusque homo. 

dicunt ex astris angeli demum reuerti hidusmodi, quern 
nos redire credimus, regnare prorsus nouimus. 
after Xll : 

da nobis illuc sedu/a = last stanza of 117. 

Eacdgjsvi7)i* Fbdhips Gm Hbcdei/3 Ibdghm Madgi Vs 

Aeterne rex altissime, 
redemptor at fidelium, 
quo mors soluta deperit, 
datur triumphus gratiae; 

scandens tribunal dexterae 5 

Patris, potestas omnium 
conlata est lesu caelitus, 
quae non erat humanitus, 

3 salute Mi. 4 triumphum Mgi, -is Es. 7 om. est Ea Id. 

lesu est Mgi^, est et cael. Vs. 

I. altissime] 'O Thou most probably dative after ^a/wr. 

highest,' often in O.T. as appellation 5 f. 'At Thy ascent to the judg- 

of God, e.g. Ps. ix. 3; here of ment seat, at the right hand of the 

Christ. Father, power over all things was 

3. ' by whom death is utterly given to Thee, Jesus, from heaven, 

destroyed,' the abl. of instrument which was not Thine as man.' 

with a neuter verb used for the scandens is the nom. abs. (cp. 91. 

passive of a transitive verb ; cp. 68. 27) rather than = scaftdzs or in a 

20 nullis ruamus actibus ; 80. 8 loose agreement with lesu in 7. 

curis ruant; 84. 5 f . interitu... tribunal is the Vulgate word for 

perire. the judgment seat of Pilate, Herod, 

The abl. of the instr., for the GaJlio etc., and of Christ, Rom. 

normal use with a, ab, of persons is xiv. 10, 1 Cor. v. 10, Prud. Cath. 

found rarely in Cicero, cp. Cael. 34 ix. 104 arduum tribunal alti uictor 

alienis uiris comitata, often in poets ascendit Patris \ inclito caelo repor- 

who found it metrically convenient, tans passionis gloriam. For the ace. 

e.g. Verg. Aen. i. 312 uno graditur cp. 112. 5 note. 

comitatus Achate. It is found in late dexterae] a loose descriptive gen. 

writers as Cassian. Coll. xviii. xv. Or is it possessive, ' belonging to 

7 dirissimo dctemone adreptus, but Thee as the Right Hand of the 

it never became common, gratiae Father ' ; cp. 1. 5 note ? 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN CXIII 363 

ut trina rerum machina 

caelestium terrestrium 10 

et infemorum condita 

flectat genu iam subdita. 

tremunt uidentes angeli 

uersam uicem mortalium, 

culpat caro, purgat caro, 15 

regnat Deus Dei caro. 

tu, Christe, nostrum gaudium 
manens Olympo praeditum, 
mundi regis qui fabricam 

9 at He, et Ev. ii inferorum Mi. 12 flectet Gm, flectant Ea lb 
Magx. 13 trement Es Mgi. 14 uersa vice E/t Hd' Ig. 15 culpa 

carnis Mg. purget Id^ 16 homo {pro dei) Hd^. 17 te Es Fb 

Hbce/3 Ih Mgi Vs. 18 proditum He, praemium Gm. 



7. caelltus] 1. 20. It is not unlikely 
that lesu is to be regarded as dative 
rather than vocative. There is no 
tibi expressed. Stanza iv seems not 
to be addressed to our Lord directly, 
and the direct address may as well 
end at line 4 (or 2) as at any other 
point. 

9. 'The threefold fabric of the 
world ' is here heaven, earth and the 
lower regions, cp. Phil. ii. 10; not 
as usual heaven, earth and sea, as 
at 23. 6 note. 

10 f. Cp. 84. I3f. 

II. condita] 'which thou crea- 
tedst' in opposition to subdita in 12. 

13. tremunt., id est, cum tremore 
reuerentur et uenerantur Christum 
...et tunc plane uersa est sors at que 
condicio mortalium : tiam prius hu- 
mana natura et naturali sua con- 
dicione et peccati depressione longe 
infra angelicam naturam fiurat 
const ituta : in Chris to uero eadem 
super omn^s angelorum choros ex- 
alt at a est et ad Dei Pat r is dexter am 
collocata atque ab angelis merito ado- 
rata (Clicht.). Cp. Fort. XI. i. 31 
Dominus caelos ascendit . . .unde ui- 
dentes angeli carnis naturam cculos 



intrare stupuerunt dicentes: quis est 
iste rex gloriae? 

14. Contrast Hor. Epod. v, 87 
uenena magnum fas nefasque non 
ualent \ conuertere humanam uicem, 

15. culpat] 'causes sin.' caro 
Adae ctilpam induxit: Christi autem 
caro nos a peccatis purgat (Clicht.), 
cp. 10. 20 carnis uitia mundans 
caro. culpare elsewhere means ' to 
blame,' ' find fault with.' 

16. ipse Christus uerus homo, 
regnat Deus. caro quae est Deus i.e. 
homo Deus (Clicht). 

With regnat Deus cp. regnauit... 
Deus 34. 16. 

17. tu] «5. 

18. manens is an adj. as at 112. 
26. 

praeditum] 'set over,* 'ruling 
over,' — a sense of the word in sil- 
ver-age Latin, of which the dic- 
tionaries give several examples. The 
agreement with gaudium rather 
than with tu is jjeculiar. 

19. Cp. Ambr. Hex. vi. 55 hu- 
mani corporis fabricam instar esse 
mundi; Nicet. de Rat. Fid. i fabri- 
cam caeli\ Sedul. Carm. i. 61 caeli 
fabricator. 



364 EA RL Y LA TIN H YMNS 

mundana uincens gaudia. 20 

hinc te precantes quaesumus, 
ignosce culpis omnibus, 
et corda sursum subleua 
ad te superna gratia ; 

ut cum repente coeperis 25 

clarere nube iudicis, 
poenas repellas debitas, 
reddas coronas perditas. 

20 uices Gm, uidens Mi. 11 hie Mi Vs. 22 omnium He. 

24 gratiam Gm Vs. 25 et Vs. rubente Eacdjsv Fh Gm Hej3^ Ibv 

Magix. ceperit Fi^ Hbd^. 26 elarare Vs. nubem Magi, nubes E/t. 
iudicans Im. 

20. uincens] 'surpassing,' as at original. <-^if/j is often used in late 
34. 26. writers as a mere auxiliary. Ldfstedt 

21. hinc may mean 'for this ^e/-^. p. 209 f. quotes Petron. xxix. 
cause' ; or possibly 'from where we 9 interrogare ergo atriensem coepi, 
stand,' ' on this lowly earth.' quas in medio picturas haberent, 

23. corda sursum refers to the where interrogare coepi='I asked.' 

well-known liturgical formula. See Friediander on Petron. xxvil. 

25. Mt. xxiv. 30, Lk. xxi. 34 i, and Konsch p. 369f. for the like 

attendite...tiobis, ne forte... super- use oi huipio. In Cypr. ad Deme- 

ueniat in uos repentitta dies ilia, trianutn 22 we have cum uastari 

120. I. At first reading coeperis coeperitmtindus,z.ri6.2XEpist.'L\\\\. 

clarere seems to clash with repente, 18 antichristiis cum uenire coeperit. 

and such may have been the thought 26. nube iudicis] ' in the cloud as- 

of the scribe who substituted for signed prophetically to the judge.' 

that word rubente, which is pic- 28. coronas perditas] Rev. iii. 

turesque but less likely to be the 11. 

Hymn 114 

Eacdgjlsvi;/u0 Fbhimps Gm Hdei Ibghmv Vs 

lesu, nostra fedemptio, 
amor et desiderium, 
Deus creator omnium, 
homo in fine temporum : 

4 finem Es. 

1. nostra redemptio] I Tim. ii. 6. 4. Cp. Heb. ix. 26, i Pet. i. 20, 

2. desiderium] 101. 8. 84. 9. 

3. =6.1. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN CXV 365 

quae te uicit dementia, 5 

ut ferres nostra crimina, 
crudelem mortem patiens 
ut nos a morte toUeres, 

inferni claustra penetrans, 

tuos captiuos redimens, 10 

uictor triumpho nobili 

ad dextram Patris residens ? 

ipsa te cogat pietas 

ut mala nostra superes 

parcendo, et uoti compotes 15 

nos tuo uultu saties. 

tu esto nostrum gaudium, 

qui es futurum praemium, 

sit nostra in te gloria 

per cuncta semper saecula. » 20 

6 nostra f. E^ Ih. 9 penetras He Ih. 12 resides Ead^jl Hd 

Ini'^v Vs. 14 sufferas Fm. 15 om. et Fb. uotis Vs. ^o laus et 

Hd, lausque {pro semper) Vs. 

6. Is. liii. 4, I Pet. ii. 34, The nobis peccata iain commissa: tutu 

use of uincere in 5 is interesting. mala nostra parcendo sup>erat. nam 

10. ' redeeming the captives who maior est eius in nos miseratio, quam 
were ail the time thine own.' The peccatorum nostrorum sit grauitas et 
line seems to be connected with 32. pondns: praeiialetque turu illius mi- 
27 redemit ipse ius suttin. Cp. 109. sericordianostraeculpaeyej^aciorque 
1 9 redempta plebs captiucUa. The est ut nos salttet, quam sit perniciosa 
spoiling of hell is meant. culpa ut nos damnet. 

1 1 . triumpho nobili] 34. 38, 111. uoti compotes] 85. 15. 
II, 117. 20. 16. Ps. xvi. (xvii.) 15. 

12. Cp. 4. 32. 17. Cp. 113. 17. 

13. pietas] ' Thy love (pity),' 7. 18. Cp. 38. 2. 

13 note. 19. Jer. ix. 23 f., i Cor. i. 31, 

i4f. Clicht. notes: cum Deus 2 Cor. x. 17. 
ipse pro sua betiignitate dimittit 

For Whitsuntide. Hymn 115 

Mone regards this hymn as based upon 116, which he 
says was written by Ambrose— a purely arbitrary ascrip- 
tion. The two hymns seem to have been written about 
the same early date, but after Ambr.'s time. It will be 



366 EARLY LA TIN H YMNS 

seen that the hymn falls into two parts : stanzas l-iv 
are historical, stanzas V, VI pray that God will give us 
the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

Eacdgjlsvi;/*^ Fdhlpswx Gam Hbcde Ibcdfhmnv Maix Vcs 
Beata nobis gaudia 
anni reduxit orbita, 
cum Spiritus Paraclitus 
effulsit in discipulos. 

ignis uibrante lumine 5 

linguae figuram detulit, 
uerbis ut essent proflui 
et caritate feruidi. 
Unguis locuntur omnium, 
turbae pauent gentilium ; 10 

musto madere deputant, 
quos Spiritus repleuerat. 
patrata sunt haec mystice 
paschae peracto tempore, 

4 discipulis Es. 5 igni Vs. luminis Hb Mi. 7 uerbi Vs. 

9 omnibus Id^. 12 quod Hb, quo Mi. 13 mystica Ecv Fh 

Gam He Imv. 

2. ' The year's circle (i.e. the re- madere] Mone objects to the 

volving year) has brought back.' word and substitutes calere. But 

orbita is used for the commoner Latin poets often use madere of 

cireu/us of 68. 19, 87. 14, 94. 3. heavy drinking, viadidatus means 

5. 'The Spirit took the form of 'drunk' at Arnob. adv. Nat. v. i 

a tongue in the quivering light of and elsewhere. Cp. 26. 7 note, 

fire.' uibrante lumine is abl. of at- deputare is sometimes used with 

tendant circumstance. a sinister meaning, like the Greek 

7 refers back to 6, as 8 to 5. dTro/caXetj', cp. Lk. xxii. 37 cum 

8. Cp. 16. 7. iniquis deputatus est \ 122. 7. 

9. =116. 24, Acts ii. II. 12. Cp. Acts ii. 17, and for the 

10. gentilium] 'of Gentiles,' not form of expression iv. 8. 

quite correctly, for the multitudes 13. 'These things were done in 

would be at least proselytes (Acts mystic wise at the fulfilment of the 

ii. 5). passoverseason, atthesacrednumber 

11. 'They put them down as of days when by the law release is 
sodden with young wine.' made.' 

musto] Acts ii. 13. 'Must' is mystice] 'in mystic wise,' 98. 15. 

young, and therefore intoxicating. The mystery lay in the sacred 

wine; Juvenc. II. 373 calidum mus- number of days (seven times seven, 

turn. which inclusively reckoned made 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN CXV 367 



sacro dierum numero 
quo lege fit remissio. 

te nunc, Deus piissime, 
uultu precamur cernuo, 
inlapsa nobis caelitus 
largire dona Spiritus. 

dudum sacrata pectora 
tua replesti gratia ; 
dimitte nunc peccamina 
at da quieta tempora. 



15 



16 legis Ecdjv, longe He. sit Fw. 
19 illapsi Gm (-pse Mi). 

up 50) of which the passover season 
was composed. This number 50 re- 
minds the poet that every 50 years 
came the year of Jul)ilee, annus re- 
missioms. Num. xxxvi. 4, cp. Levit. 
XXV. 8 f. ; Ambr. Apol. Dauid. 42 et 
in Lege habes, quia iubilaeus did- 
tur numenis quinquaginta annoriim 
recursus, celehrabilis admodtim quo 
debita etiacuaninr...huHC nuinerum 
laeti celebramus post Domini pas- 
sionem, reinisso culpae totius debito, 
chirographo quoque euacuato, ab 
omni nexu liberi ; et suscipimus 
aduenientem in nos gratiam Spiri- 
tus sancti die Pcntecostes. The writer 
may have in mind Ennodius Hymn. 
IV. 25 f. {^de pentecoste) : quae sacra 
nunc remissio, \ paschalis instar 
gratiae, \ dum inysticam septem- 
plici I ornat coronam munere, \ 
augmenta plenitudinis \ opus mi- 
nistrat diuitis. 

Kayser explains remissio as the 
'atonement' made by the sacrifices 
that were offered at the feast of 
weeks, referring to Levit. xxiii. lyf., 
Num. xxviii. 27 f., Joseph. Ant. in. 
X. 6, Mishna Menach. iv. 2. But 
remissio in this connexion means 
not ' atonement ' but ' release.' 

18. cernuo] 'downcast,' expres- 
sive of humility, a slight and na- 
tural extension of its usual sense, as 



18 cemui Ec He Mai. 



at 62. 31, 72. 10, 94. 17. 

19. inlapsa] 3. 5, 89. 10. Notice 
that the time of inlapsa is in fact 
subsequent to that of largire. Verg. 
often uses the past participle passive 
in a present sense, cp. e.g. Aen. i. 
48 1 tunsae pectora palmis, ' beating 
their breasts ' ; cp. 80. 2 note. 

21. dudum... replesti] 'of old 
Thou didst fill.' dudum generally 
means 'a short time ago,' but in 
opposition to nunc, as here, it 
comes to signify ' formerly.' Dona- 
tus on Ter. Andr. 59 1 says dudum 
de exiguo tetnpore praeterito sed in- 
certo ; but he adds item dicitur de 
tempore praeterito paulo longiore. 
Cp. I'laut. Menaech. •j^oi.,Amphitr. 
479, 894 f, Ter. Andr. 824, Eun. 
683 f., 730 f., Verg. Aen. II. 726 f., 
XII. 632 f. Kayser translates dudum 
sacrata pectora ' langst geheiligte 
Herzen der Apostel...die langst ge- 
heiligt waren durch die Nahe und 
den Umgang Christi.' To take du- 
dum thus with sacrata might be in 
accord with John xv. 3, said before 
the coming of the Spirit. But it is 
simpler to join it with replesti. It is 
then contrasted with nunc in 23, 
and the action upon the holy apostles 
with the action upon us sinners. 

repl. gratia] 110. 3. 



368 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



Hymn ii6 

Mone I p. 239 positively asserts that 116 was written 
by Ambrose. But his statement has no foundation to go 
upon. The spondee in the second foot at Hnes 5, 9, 12, 
19, 21, 28, 29 (if nothing else), the hiatus in 23, and the 
different style forbid us to allow the possibility. 

The hymn was differently used in different localities, 
being generally divided into two or three sections. See 
Julian 576. 

Abdegh EacdgjlsvTj/x^ Fbhipsx Gam Hbdei Ibcdefghmnopv Vacps 

lam Christus astra ascenderat, 
regressus unde uenerat, 
promisso Patris munere 
sanctum daturas Spiritum. 

soUemnis surgebat dies, 5 

quo mystico septemplici 

3 promissum Ea^ Fx Hbd In. promissa...munera Es/i Fb Gam Hei Ich 
Vc. 4 Sanctis Es lb. daturum Es Hd. 5 urgebat (urguebat) 

Eadjlsv/t^ Ed Ga Hbde Icdhop. 6 qui Ga lov. mystice Iv. 

I. Probably imitated from 32. i. the earth, orbis must therefore be 

1. Joh. xvi. 38, vi. 63. taken 2& = orbita, circulus, so often 

3. Lk. xxiv. 49 pro7}iisso...mu- used in these hymns, septemplex , 
nere is harder than the variants as Cass, notes, is used as a subst.; 
promissum, promissa munera (in but he is perhaps too concrete when 
apposition with Spiritum), and so he says that it means ' a week.' It 
the more likely to be the original. is rather ' a seven,' like ifidofids 

4. daturas] 'in order to give,' a before it became 'a week.' septen- 
fairly common use of the fut. part. avium is used in much the same 
from Livy on. See Joh. xvi. 7. way in the hymn Vtni sancte Spi- 

5. surgebat] 'was beginning'; ritus. We might therefore translate 
cp. Verg. Aen. iii. 588 dies prima after this fashion: 'on which the 
surgebat Eoo; 4. i, 22. x. The circuit seven times rolling in its 
variant urgebat would mean ' was suggestive seven denotes the time of 
pressing on,' but ' the day of Pente- blessing.' 

cost was fully come,' Acts ii. i. mystico] Cp. 116. 13. Here, as 

6 f. It is tempting to render ' on there, the sacred number 7 seven 

which the globe having revolved times repeated constitutes the mys- 

seven times in mystic seven.' But tery. 

it is at least doubtful whether the 8. beata tempora] (cp. 4. 1 5) id 

writer contemplated a rotation of est, futuram <iuietem typo iubilaei^ 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN CXVI 369 



orbis uolutus septies 
signal beata tempora, 

cum hora cunctis tertia 
repente mundus intonat, 
apostolis orantibus 
Deum uenisse nuntians. 

de Patris ergo lumine 
decorus ignis almus est, 
qui fida Christi pectora 
calore uerbi compleat. 



10 



»5 



7 orbem He* Ih^p, orbi Im, orbe £jsv0 Fbp Ga Hbde Id. uoluto 
Ejsv^ Fbp Hbde Id, uolutos Ig. 9 dum Eas>t^ Hbi, turn Fh Ihmop. 



cunctus E^. 
Hi Ibdghmopv. 
Es Fh Ibgp. 
Ga. albus Es. 
Ea Imn Vc. 
pleant Ecv*. 



10 mundo lo Vap^ 11 orantibus ap. Elv/i0 Fhip Ga 

12 nuntiat Ag El/* Fi Gam Hei Idhmn'ov, nuntiant 

13 te E0 Hi. patre Hb. lutnina Ga. 14 demissus 

15 quo Ecjs0 Fb Ga Hi. fide Fb, fidi Ad. christo 

r6 uerbi c. Hd. compleuit Edlvi^i Fh Ig, com- 



qui constabat septenario annorum 
septies Jecurso, adumbratam (Cass.). 
Clicht. notes that the law was given 
on the fiftieth day after leaving 
Egypt : see also patristic references 
in Hastings Diet, of Bible iii s.v. 
Pentecost p 742. 

10. intonat] 86. I, 111. 2. 'The 
world thunders round them all.' 
There is possibly a tacit allusion to 
Wisd. i. 7, which is often quoted in 
rather a forced manner by eccle- 
siastical writers. 

11. Acts i. 14. 

12. Possibly an allusion to Psalm 
xlix. 3 Deus manifeste ueniet. 

13 f. The two adjectives are per- 
haps to be treated as the predicate 
after est. ' Beauteous and gracious 
then is the fire proceeding from the 
Father's light.' Or perhaps ignis 
also is a part of the predicate, ' It 
(viz. what is portended by the rush- 
ing noise) is a beauteous and gracious 
fire' etc. The three Persons of the 
Trinity are mentioned in the stanza : 



the Father in 13, tho' Spirit in 14, 
the Son in 15 and 16. 

ergo merely marks the continua- 
tion of the story. 

14. decorus ignis] i.e. the holy 
Spirit, cp. 116. 5, 118. 7, Aug. 
Con/. XIII. 25 foetus est subito de 
caelo sonus...et uisae sunt linguae 
diuisae quasi i^is...et facta sunt 
luminaria in firmamento caeli uer- 
bum uitae habentia. ubique disatr- 
rite, ignes sancti, ignes decori. 

almus] a divine attribute, as at 
36. 37, 84. I, 104. 22 etc. In Latin 
poets the word is often applied to 
gods, as to Venus (Lucr. i. 2, Hor. 
Od. IV. XV. 31), and to Ceres (Verg. 
Georg. I. 7). 

est] Cp. 32. 1 7 note. 

15. fida CliriBti] for the active 
sense oi fidus thus used with a gen. 
cp. Verg. Aen. xil. 659 tui fidis- 
sima, and see Lofstedt Stud. p. 53 f. 

16. uerbi] of the burning word 
which they are to preach (cp. 116. 
6f.). 

«4 



370 EA RL Y LA TIN H YMNS 

impleta gaudent uiscera 

afflata sancto lumine, 

uoces diuersae consonant, 

fantur Dei magnalia. 20 

ex omni gente cogitur 

Graecus, Latinus, Barbaras ; 

cunctisque admirantibus 

Unguis locuntur omnium. 

ludaea tunc incredula, 25 

uesano turba spiritu, 

17 completa Es lb. gaudens E/x. 18 afflato Ecv Fb Igmp. flamine 
Ecj, spiritu Easv<^ Fi He Ibdeghmnop Vc. sancti spiritus Ga Hi. 19 di- 
uersas Eav^tt^ Gam Hei, diuersis Es. intonant Eadyn Gam Hei, intonat 
Ev lb, consonae Hd^e, consono Hd^. 20 fantes El. 21 coitur Ae^ 

Ed^j Fbp Id, cogniti Ead'sv/t^ Fdhi Ga Hi Ibghmv, cognitis Ip'*, cog- 
nitos lop^. 1^ Graecis -is -is Eadsv/t(^ Fhi Ga Hi IbghmpV, Graecos 

-OS -OS Fb lop^. 24 omnibus Ev^i0 Fd Ga Hi Ighmp. 26 uesana 

Ag Eacv Fp Gm He Ibgmn Vc, uesani Hb. turbo Ag Es Hd^, torua Id^'v, 
toruo Ea/i Fp Gm Ibcghmn, tacta E^ He^, tunc Hi. spiritus Hb led. 

17. uiscera] ' hearts' as. often in 497 Hebraeus, Graecus, Romanus, 
Latin versions of N.T. as Lk. i. 78, barbarus, Indus, \ Israhelita canit. 
Philem. 20 rejice uiscera mea. The variant cogniti Graecis etc. 

18. ' breathed upon (inspired) by (wherein the ablatives or datives 
the sacred light.' The variant .S/iW/M of 22 are in a peculiar kind of 
seems to be a gloss, though lumine apposition with ex 0. gente ' men 
may possibly have come in from of all nations') would come from 
line 13. Note that the one word Acts ii. 11 and the thought is ex- 
uiscera is qualified by both impleta pressed in line 23. cogniti would 
and afflata : — impl. affl. means mean ' understood ' ; but this would 
' filled by the inspiration of.' be a strange use of the word. 

19. consonant] The less expres- cogitur] 14. 22. Daniel iv. 83 f. 
sive intonant may have come from Sane uox cogitur s. coitur sine dubi- 
line 10. u. diu. stands for the tatione recipienda est in textum ;... 
uariis Unguis of Acts ii. 4. fortasse legendum ex omni g. coitur, 

20. magnalia] Acts ii. 11. Graecis etc. But coitur is not well 
21 f. 'From every nation is attested and would not harmonize 

gathered together Greek,' etc. The with the prosody of this hymn. 

writer may be thinking of Prud. 22. Graecus etc.] sing, for plu. 

Cath. Xll. 201 gaudete quicquid For the sense cp. Rom. i, 14, Col. 

gentium est \ ludaea, Roma, Grae- iii. ir. 

cia; or of Ennod.'s Pentecostal 24. =115.9. 

hymn iv. 17 f. Thrax, Gallus, 25. ludaea] Cp. 1. 52. 

Indus unus est : \ quod blanda ludit 26. uesano] Cp. the similar use 

Graecia \ ...mundi ad salutem cur- oiinsanus 16. 16, amens 2A. 11. 

ritur; or of Fort. Vit. Mart. in. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN CXVH 371 

ructare musti crapulam 
alumnos Christi concrepat. 

sed signis et uirtutibus 

occurrit et docet Petrus 30 

falsa profari perfidos, 

lohele teste comprobans. 

11 crapula E/t Fh Ga Hi. 28 concrepant Ga, concrepet Ed'l. 

31 falsas Hb, falso Ev Fh Ine Vc, falsos Eadsv/x0 Fdi Ga Hi Ighmp. 
profare (proph.) lo, probari Ea Ig, probauit (prouabit) Eds/x^ Fdi Ga Hi 
Imp. 32 lohelis testimonio Eadlv^ Fdhi Ga Hi Ibghmopv (-nium Es). 

27. musti] Acts ii. 13, 116. 11. wonders and signs wrought later on 
crapulam] 26. 9, 103. 17. by the apostles, ib. 43. 

28. concrepat] 6. 14. 32. Acts ii. 16 f. A curiously 

29. ' But Peter meets them with abrupt ending, which is avoided in 
signs and pKJwers ' ; i.e. by remind- some MSS by ,the insertion of a 
ing them of those which God had stanza : sic, Christe, nunc parculi- 
wrought through Jesus and which tus \ per te pius nos uisita, \ nouans- 
ought to have persuaded them of que terrae fcuietn \ culpis solutos 
His divine mission. Acts ii. 22. Or recreet. 

there may be a reference to the 



Hymn 117 

Eacdgilsv?;/* Fhips Gam Hbdei Ighmnv Vs 
Hymnum canamus gloriae, 
hymni noui nunc personent, 
Christus nouo cum tramite 
ad Patris ascendit thronum. 

transit triumpho gloriae " S 

poll potenter culmina, 

I domino {pro gl.) Ed. 2 hymnum -um Fs Hb Vs. personet Ig Vs, 
personant Fi. 3 nunc {pro cum) El/u Fh Gm Igm. 5 triumphus 

Vs. nobili Elv Hi Ih. 

1 . h. gloriae] like palmas gloriae from a scribe whose eye caught nunc 
104. 47 ; and cp. v. 5. in 2. 

2. hymni noui] 87. 24. The v. 1. tramite] 47. 4. 
hymnum noiium gives the usual ace. 5 f. Note the alliteration. 
after/^rxo««;r, asatl9. 12. 6. poU. . .culmina] Cp. 48. 18. 

3. nouo] as 6. 30. For the meaning of transit c. see 
cum] The v. 1. nunc would come Eph. iv. 10. 

24 — 2 



372 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

qui morte mortem absumpserat 

derisus a mortalibus. 

apostoli tunc mystico 

in monte stantes chrismatis lo 

cum matre clara uirgine 

lesu uidebant gloriam. 

hunc prosecuti lumine 

laeto petentem sidera 

laetis per auras cordibus 15 

duxere regem saeculi. 

quos alloquentes angeli : 

*• quid astra stantes cernitis ? 

saluator hie est' inquiunt, 

' lesus, triumpho nobili 20 

a uobis ad caelestia 

qui regna nunc adsumptus est, 

uenturus inde saeculi 

in fine iudex omnium.' 

7 assumpserat Ev Fh Hbd^ Igh,'superat Hd^. 9 turn Ga. mystice 

Ev. 13 ac Edl Ga, hie Fp, hoc Eacj. 14 laetutn Hi. 15 laeti 

Hd. aures Ed Gm. cordiuni Es Hd'^e Ig. 20 lesu Ev. nobilis Ec 

Fp Hbe. 22 regnat Ga Hbd^ Vs. hinc Vs. 

8. derisus] 'although derided.' cp. Juvenc. i. 659 cemis adhae- 

9 f . i.e. on the Mount of Olives, rentem festucam in lumine fratris', 

a name full of meaning (mystico) ; Paul. Nol. Carm. xviii. 291 lu- 

the chrism (26. 4 note) was chiefly mine...cernis. Fort. iv. x. 24 a 

made of olive oil. For wy/j/tVt? used nostra lumine ra plus obit, 

of that which has a hidden meaning, 15. Lk. xxiv. 52. 

cp. 40. 18, 98. 15, 115. 17, 116. 6, 16. duxere] deducere is more 

124. 7. common in this sense than ducere. 

1 1 . This of course is not ex- regem saeculi] 1. 70. 

pressly stated in Scripture. 17. Acts i. 10. 

13. 'with joyful gaze following 19. est goes with «^«/MrMi- in 23. 
Him in His ascent to heaven, with 20. triumpho noblU] referring to 
joyful hearts they accompanied the ascension (cp. 114. 11) not to 
through the air the King of the the future parousia. It goes gram- 
world.' The repetition laeto .. .laeti va.'sXxczW.y vi\\h. assumptus est. 
is emphatic. Sedul. Carm. V. 429 21. English MSS for the most part 
illi autem laetis cementes uultibus omit this stanza and the next but 
altas I ire super nubes Dominutn. one {quo nos), while the stanza 

lumine] 'eye,' rare in sing., but sicqtie is omitted in foreign ones. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN CXVHI 373 

sicque uenturum asserunt, 25 

quern ad modum hunc uiderant 

summa polorum culmina 

scandere lesum splendida. 

quo nos precamur tempore, 

lesu redemptor unice, 30 

inter tuos in aethera 

seruos benignus adgrega. 

da nobis illuc sedula 

deuotione tendere, 

quo te sedere cum Patre 35 

in arce regni credimus. 

28 splendide Ev. 32 benigne suscipe Hb. 33 illud Es. sedulo- 

Ec. 35 qua Ga. 

31. in aethera] i Thess. iv. 16. mus. 

33. Cp. the Ascension Collect. 35. quo] ' where,' as in 1. 18. 

Ambr. in Luc. x. ii<) ergo et ascen- 36. arce regni] 23. 26, 33. 11, 

disli nobis, ut te seqtteremur menti- 120. 7. 
bus, quern oculis uidere non passu- 

Hymn ii8 

[Walpole left prefixed to this hymn the note, * Intro- 
duction elsewhere.' We have not been able to find such 
an introduction among his papers. Probably he put off 
writing it, and never accomplished his purpose. In de- 
fault of work of his, the student is referred to the excel- 
lent account in Julian's Dictionary, by Dr Gibson, now 
Bishop of Gloucester. 

There is no evidence whatever to connect the author- 
ship with any known name. The ascription to the Em- 
peror Charlemagne by Ekkehard {c. 1220) is shewn by 
Dr Gibson to be based on a blunder. The utmost which 
can be inferred from Ekkehard's story, if there is any 
truth in it at all, is that the hymn was new or not well- 
known towards the end of the IXth century: otherwise 
the Emperor of the time (Charles the Fat) would hardly 



374 EA RLY LA TIN H YMNS 

have sent it as a present to a distinguished ecclesiastic 
like Notker. No MS of earlier date than the Xth century- 
contains it. The earliest of those whose readings are re- 
corded in this volume, to which anything like a year can 
be assigned, is the one here denoted Ej. It came from 
Durham ; and Dr Mearns {Early Latin Hymnaries p. xi) 
dates it from about 980. Our El Gm/t and Ha are 
reckoned to be of the same century. By about the be- 
ginning of the Xlth century, it is found in MSS represent- 
ing England, France, Germany with Switzerland, Italy, 
and Spain. 

Its earliest liturgical use seems to have been at Vespers 
in Whitsuntide (as in Ej) ; but the Sarum use assigned 
it to Terce on Whitsunday and the three following days, 
when it was to be sung with special solemnity. No 
doubt that hour was chosen with reference to Acts ii. 15. 
Dr Gibson traces its use at Ordinations to the Xlth 
century. 

No other Latin hymn, except those of the daily offices, 
has been so frequently and widely used as this. It is the 
only one which has found its way, in alternative transla- 
tions, into the English Prayer Book. 

The most elaborate special work upon the hymn is 
that which Dr Gibson mentions — S. G. Pimont Hymnes 
du Breviaire Romain vol. II, part II, pp. 125-143.] 

EacdgilsvxT;/*^ Fhilpsy Gmju Habcdei Ibcdefghmn Vcs 

Veni creator Spiritus, 
mentes tuorum uisita, 
imple superna gratia, 
quae tu creasti pectora : 

I. Ambr. de Spir. II. 41 dubitare (p. 26) sed dices : de Verba quidem 

ergo non possum Spiritum creatorem, manifestatutn est quod creauerit ; 

quern dominicae cognoscimus incur- sed quid de Spiritii? ciccipe aliud 

nationis auctorem ; Nicet. de Sp. S. testimonium iustissimi illius et sane- 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN CXVHI 375 



qui Paraclitus diceris, 
donum Dei altissimi, 
fons uiuus, ignis, caritas, 
et spiritalis unctio. 
tu septifortnis munere, 
dextrae Dei tu digitus, 



6 altissimus Ec. 



9 gratia Ine Vc, gratiae Fy Gm''. 



tissimi lob. Spiritus inquit diuinus 
qui fecit me (Job xxxiii. 4) et Dauid 
psallens dicit ad Deutn : emitte Spi- 
ritum tuum et creabuntur et re- 
notiabis faciem terrae (Ps. ciii. (civ.) 
30). si creatio et renouatioper Spiri- 
turn erit, sine dtibio et principium 
creationis sine Spirit u nonfuit. sed 
Solent ei qui ueritati resistiint argute 
Spiritus uocabulum et personam ad 
Filiiim cotiuertere, sicubi creator 
Spiritus inuenitur etc. Cp. id. 
p. 74. 9. See also Ps. xxxii. (xxxiii.) 
6, 4 Esdr. xvi. 63. Note the climax 
ueni, uisita, imple. 

5. Notable as the only place in 
these hymns where we find the 
quantitative Paraclitus and not the 
accentual Paraclitus. 

6. donum] Joh. iv, 10, Acts viii. 
20. Aug. de Trin. xv per donum, 
quod est Spiritus sanctus, mtilta 
propria dona diuiduntur membris 

Christi ; Enchir. 1 2 Spiritus sanctus 
ipse proprie sic est Deus, ut dicatur 
etiam Dei donum. 

7. fons uiuus] Joh. vii. 38 f. 
Cp. iv. 14. Ambr. de Spir. I. 174 
sed siue patrem quis hoc loco, siue 

filium intellegat fontem ; fontem 
utique intellegimus non aquae istius, 
quae creatura est : sed diuinae illius 
gratiae, hoc est Spiritus sancti ; ipse 
enim est aqua uiua. 

ignis] Lk. xii. 49, Acts ii. 3, 
Ambr. de Spir. I. 164 et Esaias 
significat non solum lucem, sed etiam 
ignem esse Spiri tum sanctum ; Sedul. 
Op. V. 35 ignis Spiritus sancti gerit 
imaginem, quo deuoti consecramur 
ad /idem, in eadem namque specie 
demonstratus effulsit, cum beatos 
apostolos, sicut liber eorum Actuum 



protestatur, clara sui diuinitate per- 
fudit. 

caritaa] Rom. v. 5 and other 
places. Cp. Ambr. de Spir. i. 94 
effundittir etiam caritas Dei per 
Spiritum...ut intellegamus non esse 
opus sanctum Spiritum, qui di- 
uinae arbiter et fons profluus cari- 
talis est ; ib. I. 130 sicut enim una 
est caritas patris et filii, ita hanc 
caritatem Dei supra effundi per 
Spiritum sanctum et fructum esse 
sattcti Spiritus declarauimus. 

8. I Joh. ii. 20, 27 ; cp. a tro- 
parium given by Mone I. p. 8r 
Spiritui quoque cordis unctori iu- 
bilemus. 

9. ' Thou art sevenfold in Thy 
gifts.' Is. xi. 2. Cp. Rev. i. 4 ; 
Greg. Moral, xxxv. xt^quos Spiritus 
gratiae septiformis repleuit, perficit, 
eisque non solum Trinitatis notitiam 
sed etiam uirtutum quattuor, id est 
prudentiae, temperantiae, fortitudi- 
nis atque itistitiae, operationem prae- 
bet; id. Hom. in Ezech. 11. vi. 7. 
The prayer for the gift of the septi- 
formis Spiritus in confirmation is 

very ancient in the West, and very 
widespread ; see Thompson Offices 
of Baptism p. 216, Mason Relation 
of Confirmation to Baptism 248. 

I o. Dei . . . digitus] a phrase found 
Exod. viii. 19, xxxi. 18, Deut. ix. 10, 
cp. Ps. viii. 3. From these piissages 
(cp. Ambr. in Ps. cxvni. xv. 9 
digitum...p:-o Spiritu, ut lex digito 
Dei scripta est), and from a com- 
parison of Mt. xii. 28 with Lk. xi. 
20 ' the finger of God' was identified 
with the Holy Spirit. Ambr. de 
Spir. III. II, 13. 



376 EARLY LATIN HYMNS 

tu rite promisso Patris 
sermone ditas guttura. 

accende lumen sensibus, 

infunde amorem cordibus, 

infirma nostri corporis ' 15 

uirtute firmans perpeti. 

hostem repellas longius, 

pacemque dones protinus, 

ductore sic te praeuio 

uitemus omne noxium. 20 

per te sciamus da Patrem, 
noscamus atque Filium, 
te utriusque Spiritum 
credamus omni tempore. 

1 1 promissum E/u Fhpy Ib^en Vc. 1 2 ditans Es/* Fhpy Hd^ leghmn 

Vcs. t6 firma Gm. perpetim Ecs Fy Hbde. 17 repelle Gm Id, 

repellat Ev Vs^. 18 dona Id, redde Gm, donet Ev. 23 iitrorum- 

que Gm. 

II. Mk. xiii. II promisso is a is not needed, sit laus Patri cum 

subst. as in Lk. xxiv. 49, ' by pro- Filio, which early mss as a rule 

mise of the Father.' The abl. as at know not. Durh. B. ill. 32 gives it 

116. 3. thus, sit laus Patri cum Geniio, \ am- 

11. Acts ii. 4. borum et Paraclito, \ proles ttt hunc 

13. lumen] e.g. 3 Cor. iii. i6f. promiserat \ nobis modoque tribuat. 
sensibus, ' thoughts.' Other doxologies are Praesta Pater 

14. Greg. Horn, in Ezech. i. v. 8 ox Hie Christe nunc Paraclitus \ per 
Spirit us sanctus in electorum cordibus te pnus nos uisitet or Dudum sacrata 
ex se ipso flammas amoris proicit. ( = 115. 21 f.) or Deo Patri sit gloria 

15. 16] taken from 6. 27, 28. For or (most common) Gloria Patri do- 
the application to the Spirit cp. mino \ natoque qui a mortuis \ sur- 
Eph. iii. 16. rexit ac Paraclito \ in saeculorum 

18. protinus is used in the less saecula. And the stanza which 
common sense of ' continually.' Trench gives Da gaudiorum prae- 

19. Probably the reference is to mia is interpolated from 78. i3f. 
the guiding cloud in the wilder- 23. Opens out the tremendous 
ness. question which has estranged the 

21 f. Cp. Joh. xvi. 14, 15. The West from the East. But cp. (e.g.) 
last stanza is a quasi-doxology, so Mt. x. 20 Spiritus Patris uestri 
that the last stanza given by Trench with Acts xvi. 7 Spiritus lesu. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN CXIX 377 

Dedication of Church. Hymn 119 

This grand old hymn, full of poetical feeling though 
rugged enough as to its prosody, was written in VI- 
Vlllth cent, if we may judge by its metre and the cha- 
racter of its rhymes. The main idea is taken from Rev. 
xxi. 2, some of its imagery from Is. xxviii. 16 and i Pet. 
ii. 5 f. 

Neale Med. Hymns p. 20 f. says : ' Daniel imagines 
[stanzas Vll, vili] to be a later addition, when the hymn, 
originally general, was adapted to the dedication of a 
church. Trench, on the contrary, will have the whole 
poem to be of one date : and alleges, very truly, that 
this mixture of the earthly and heavenly temple is 
usual in hymns and sequences on a similar subject. 
Nevertheless I think Daniel is right: (i) because there 
is a clear difference in the style and language of the two 
last and seven preceding stanzas, (2) because the transi- 
tion from one part to the other is so unusually abrupt, 
(3) because at the end of the sixth stanza there is a 
quasi-doxology as if to point out that the hymn originally 
concluded there.' 

The oldest MS containing the hymn, Paris Arsenal 
227, omits stanzas Vli and Vlir, and thus Daniel's idea 
becomes quite likely. At Poitiers in IXth cent, the hymn 
was sung at the Baptism on Easter Eve and instead of 
the two stanzas this was added after line 18 : Fonte pro- 
letn salutari chrismatis et unguine \ candidatutn et orna- 
tum uirgo mater afferens \ quam siiperna proles Patris 
caelo Christus accipit. 

The hymn was rewritten in smooth but comparatively 
weak iambic dimeters for the modern Roman breviary, 
beginning thus : Caelestis urhs Jerusalem, \ beata pads 
uisio, I quae celsa de uiuentibns \ saxis ad astra tolleris. 



378 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

Contrast the strength of line I3f. with Alto ex Olympi 
uertice \ summi parentis filius \ ceu monte desectus lapis \ 
terras in imas decidens. Another version in smooth 
trochaics, wherein less of the original power was lost, 
was made by the Abbe Besnault for the Sens breviary 
of 1726 Urbs beata, ttera pacts \ uisio, lenisalem ; \ quanta 
surgit I celsa saxis \ conditur uiuentibus : \ quae poliuit, 
haec coaptat \ sedibus suis Deus. 

This hymn is the ultimate source of inspiration to all 
the many hymns concerning the New Jerusalem. 

EansvT//*^ Fhlnrsp Gm Hdfhi Ibcdefghmnopv Mk Vcls 
Urbs beata lerusalem dicta pacis uisio, 
quae construitur in caelis uiuis ex lapidibus, 
et angelis coornata ut sponsata comite, 

noua ueniens e caelo, nuptiali thalamo 

praeparata, ut sponsata copuletur Domino, 5 

plateae et muri eius ex auro purissimo. 

2 quera Ig. caelo Es. 3 angelico ornata Es Ih (omatu Mk). 

coronata Hi. hac sponsata comiti Id, uelut sponsa nobilis Hfi, ut sponsa 
de thalamo Es. 4 a Gm Iv, de Ih. 5 ac [pro ut) In*^. copulata 

Ean Fn Ih, copulatur Ev Id Vs. 6 portae atque m. Es Mk, plateae 

murique E/i. 

1 . ' Blessed city called Jerusalem, leste transferret. 

(that is to say) the vision of peace.' 3. ' adorned by angels as a bride 

Cp. 120. 40. For this favourite de- (is adorned) by her attendants,' Rev. 

rivation cp. e.g. Aug. in Ps. L. 22 xxi. ^ paratam sicut sponsam orna- 

interpretatur enim Sion speculatio, tarn uiro sua. comes, from classical 

et lerusalem uisio pcuis. Modern times downwards, is a constant 

discovery has been thought to con- word for the attendants of great 

firm it. See Hastings Diet. Bible s.v. personages ; cp. e.g. Her. Od. iv. ix. 

2. uiuis ex lapidibus] i Pet. ii. I4f. aurum uestibus illitum mirata 
4 f. ad quern accedentes lapidem ui- regalesque cultus et comites Helene 
uum...et ipsi tamquam lapides uiui Lacaena. Here the singular is used 
superaedificamini. Prud. Nol. xvii. for the plural, as we have often had 
237 f. bone serue Christi, | qui tibi in these hymns. 

donat lapides in astra \ uertere et The verb sponsare occurs in the 

uiuis sacra te?npla saxis \ aedificare. Vulgate, as well as in the jurists, but 

Bede Hist. iv. 3 superuenit namque it is not so common as the com- 

clades diuinitus missa, quae per pound desponsare. 
mortem carnis uiuos ecclesiae lapides Cassander's coronata is perhaps a 

de terrenis sedibus adaedificium cat- misprint. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN CXIX 379 

portae nitent margaritis adytis patentibus, 

et uirtute meritorum illuc introducitur 

omnis qui pro Christi nomen hie in mundo premitur. 

tunsionibus, pressuris expoliti lapides, 10 

suis coaptantur locis per manum artificis, 
disponuntur permansuri sacris aedificiis. 

angularis fundamentum lapis Christus missus est, 

qui conpage parietis in utroque nectitur, 

quem Syon sancta suscepit, in quo credens permanet. 1 5 

7 nitet Vs. abditis Fn Im. 8 illic Id. 9 ob Gm. nomine 

Eanvi; Fhn Hd Ih Vcl. christo deo E^ Hfi. hoc immutando geritur Vs. 
10 tonsionibus Es Fh Id Mk (-oribus Ev), tensionibus Vs. pressure {sc. 
-rae) Es Mk. 1 1 suisque apt. Eanvc^ Hdf Ic'n. manus Eav^ Fh Hi 

Ibdv Vs. 12 permansuris E/z Fhn Hd Id%i Vs. sacri Ih. 

13 angulare En Fn Ih. fundamenti Es^ Hfi Mk. 14 parietum Gm 

Hfi, pariete E17. 



6. Rev. xxi. 21. 

7. ib. 21, 25. 

8. meritorom] No doubt the 
poet meant ^ their merits,' 'in ac- 
cordance with their deserts.' 

9. I Pet. iv. 14, Damas. LVili. 
2 Christi... pro nomine passi. In 
view of the hiatus in lines 3, 5, 6, 
16, 17, 22, 24 and of the absence 
of any elisions in the hymn the 
reading nomen, which is found in 
Es Icn Mk Vc, is more likely than 
nomine, the last syllable of which 
would be elided. The variants ob 
Christi nomen and pro Christo Deo 
would avoid the elision but would 
not account for pro C. nomine. 
For pro with the ace. cp. Ronsch 
pp. 412, 523, Schmalz p. 410, 
Lofstedt Aeth. p. 289. hie is of 
course the adverb, explained by the 
following words : ' here in the 
world.' We have had this adver- 
bial use at 62. 1 1 et hie piatos sordi- 
bus. 

r 10. pressuris] in reference to 
premitur above, cp. Joh. xvi. 13 in 
mundo pressuram habebitis. See 



Ronsch p. 320 f. Clicht. says nempe 
in exstruenda domo exciduntur lapi- 
des et sculpuntur tundunturque mal- 
leis, antequam aptentur aedijicio. 
Greg, in Ezech. Ii. ii. 5 Jerusalem 
caelestis ut ciuitas aedijieatur, quae 
tamen in hac peregrinationis terra, 
dum Jlagellis percutitur, tribtda- 
tionibus tunditur, eius lapides cot- 
tidie quadrantur. et ipsa est ciuitas, 
scilicet sancta ecclesia, quae regna- 
tura in caelo otlhtu labor at in terra. 
Cp. Acts xiv. 21. 

11. axtiflcis] 39. 14. 

12. permansuri] Rev. iii. 13. 

13. Is. xxviii. 16 ego mittam in 
fundamentis Sion lapidem, lapidem 
probatum angnlarem pretiosum, in 
fundamento fundatutK. ; 1. 5 note. 

14. Eph. ii. 19 foil. As conpages 
is always fern., in utroque must be 
taken either with pariete under- 
stood, or absolutely, like the utraque 
of Eph. ii. 14, which is perhaps 
better. 'Which in the framework of 
the wall is bonded into Ixjth.' 

15. Is. vii. 9 si non credideritis 
non pemtutubitis. 



380 EA RLY LA TIN HYMNS 

omnis ilia Deo sacra et dilecta ciuitas 
plena modulis in laude et canore iubilo 
trinum Deum unicumque cum fauore praedicat. 

hoc in templo, summe Deus, exoratus adueni 

et dementi bonitate precum uota suscipe, 20 

largam benedictionem hie infunde iugiter. 

hie promereantur omnes petita adquirere 
et adepta possidere cum Sanctis perenniter, 
paradisum introire translati in requiem. 

gloria et honor Deo usque quo altissimo 25 

una Patri Filioque inclito Paraclito, 

cui laus est et potestas per aeterna saecula. 

16 sacra deo lb. grata Gm, sacrata Ih. om. et Ev. 17 canoro Ea 

Gm Ic Vc. 18 unum quoque Eav. feruore Gm. praedicant Et; Im 

Vcl, praedicans Hd. 19 templum Ea. deus s.Es Mk. 11 infundens 
Ean. 22 hinc Gm, sic Hd. promereamur Ih. accipere Es Gm Idhm 

Mk. 24 paradiso Im. nos transl. Ih. 25 [pro usque quo altissimo) 

atque coaltissimo Ihm Vs. laus et benedictio E^, uirtus et imperium Es Fh. 
26, 27 genitoque nazareno simul et paraclito qui supernum tenet regnum 
permanet in saecula E/n. 26 inclitoque filio p. Es. 27 honor (pro 

laus est) Vs. immensa Vs. 

16. ciuitas] Rev. xi. 2, xx. 8. sense, 'won by our prayers,' unlike 

17. modiills] The dictionaries 65. 11. 

give references to Pliny and others 22. promereantur] 82. 21. 

for the sense of ' modes' or ' melo- 23. adepta] passive as at Fort. 

dies.' iubilo must be understood i. xv. 34, v. iv. 5. 

here to be an adj. agreeing with cum Sanctis] Te Deum 2r. 

canore. 24. paradisum] 29. 50. 

18. fauore] Cp. 36. \% fauent. 25. usque quo] like usque qua- 
Corippus has gaudia quanta illic, que, in the sense of ' for ever.' 
quantus fauor. Grammatically Deo is to be con- 

19. in templo] =/«^^w//«/«,cp. nected with ^ara<-/iVo. 
33. 18 note. 27. cui] dissyllable. 

exoratus here has its proper 

De Iudicio. Hymn 120 

This alphabetical hymn is quoted by Bede and is 
therefore certainly as old as the Vllth cent., perhaps 
much older. Neale writes, ' It manifestly contains the 
germ of the Dies Irae, to which, however inferior in 



HYMN CXX 381 

lyrical fervour and effect, it scarcely yields in devotion 
and simple realisation of its subject.' 

It has sometimes been ascribed to Hilary, who is 
known to have used the alphabetical contrivance; but 
there is no particular evidence to guide our judgement to 
him. 

Bb 
Apparebit repentina dies magna Domini, 
fur obscura uelut nocte inprouisos occupans. 

Breuis totus turn parebit prisci luxus saeculi, 
totum simul cum clarebit praeterisse saeculum. 

Clangor tubae per quaternas terrae plagas concinens 5 
uiuos una mortuosque Christo ciet obuiam. 

De caelesti iudex area, maiestate fulgidus, 
Claris angelorum choris comitatus aderit. 

Erubescet orbis lunae, sol et obscurabitur, 

stellae cadent pallescentes, mundi tremet ambitus. 10 

3 obscaro Bb. 7 caeleste Bb. 

1. repentina] Lk. xxi. 34, 113. 4. clarebit] 'it will be clear 
25. (manifest),' Lucr. vi. 938; Juvenc. 

dies magna Domini] Mai. iv. 5, 11. 773 multi ueteies... \(]uae uobis 

itself a quotation from Joel ii. 31. clarent,oraruntcemere dona; Amhr. 

2. for... nocte] i Thess. v. 2. Apol. DauiJ. 17 qiu indicia claruit 
uelut should begin its clause, as auri cupiditcUfm maieriam esse per- 
should 7iel in 22. The order of fidiae; Paul. Nol. Carm. xix. 598 
words in the hymn is often in- uel qua latuit scelus atque reclusum 
verted, cp. quo in 35, in qua in 40, claruit. 

ubi in 42, and the prep, ad'xn 15. 5. Mt. xxiv. 31. 

inprouisos] not expecting it, Lk. quaternas... plagas] Cp. Verg. 
xvii. 26 f. The word is elsewhere Aen. vii. 226 plagarum quattuor. 

passive, as at 2 Mace. viii. 6. 6. i Thess. iv. 16 f. 

Ebert i. 555 quotes the verse with det] ' shall summon,' 20. 9 note. 

the reading improuisa, which would 7. arce] 23. 26. 

of course be passive. I do not know 8. Mt. xvi. 27, xxv. 31. 

his authority. choris] abl. Cp. 119. 3. 

3. parebit] ' will appear,' ' will comitatus] passive. 

be seen to be.' pareo ohci\ = appareo 9. Is. xxiv. 23, Joel ii. 31, Acts 

in Vulgate, as Mt. xxiv. 30 tunc ii. 20. 

parebit signum Filii hominis in sol... stellae] Mt. xxiv. 19. 

caelo; see Ldfstedt .^^M. 58. Ronsch 10. pallescentes] 22. 2 note. 

374 gives many instances. mundi ..ambitus] 80. 3. 



382 



EARLY LATIN HYMNS 



Flamma ignis anteibit iusti uultum iudicis, 
caelos, terras et profundi fluctus maris deuorans. 
Gloriosus in sublimi rex sedebit solio, 
angelorum tremebunda circumstabunt agmina. 
Huius omnes ad electi colligentur dexteram, 
praui pauent a sinistris, hoedi uelut fetidi. 
' Ite ' dicet rex a dextris ' regnum caeli sumite, 
Pater uobis quod parauit ante omne saeculum ; 
Karitate qui fraterna me iuuistis pauperem, 
karitatis nunc mercedem reportate diuites.' 
16 ceu {j)ro uelut) Bb. 



15 



11. flamma ignis] Joel ii. 3, Is. 
Ixvi. 15, Rev. XX. 9. 

iusti... iudicis] Ps. vii. 12. 

12. caelos, terras, ...maris] 23. 6 
note. 

13. Mt. XXV. 31. 

15. Mt. XXV. 33. 
ad...derteram] The order of the 

words is abnormal and so strange 
that I venture to suggest as the 
original reading adelecti...dextera. 
Verbs compounded with two pre- 
positions were rare in classical 
writers, common in later times, and 
we find adinuentio, adinuentor, ad- 
impletio etc. and even per-dis-co- 
perire. See Lofstedt Aeth. p. 92 f., 
Ronschpp. i8of., 202. But parallels 
in Latin literature are quoted by 
Schmalz p. 416 who compares 
Tibull. I. vi. 30 contra quis ferat 
arma deos. One might compare the 
familiar per ego te deos oro of Te- 
rence ; Liv. XXIII. ix. 2 per ego te, 
inquit, Jilt, quaecumque iura etc. ; 
Verg. Ed. vi. 19 iniciunt ipsis ex 
uincula sertis, where Forbiger cites, 
among other passages, Ov. ex Font. 
I. ii. 150 iure uenit cultos ad sibi 
quisque deos. 

16. pauent] among the futures 
is perhaps intended to be future, as 
if from pau?re. 

hoedi] lit. \i\ds = capri. hoedi is 
the biblical word. 

17. a dextris] rots « 5e|tw»' '■to 



those on his right hand.' This use of 
a prep, with its object to take the 
place of an adj. or subst. is rare in 
Latin. But not unlike is Liv. xxiii. 
2 1 priores ex Sicilia...recitatae stmt, 
' the despatch from Sicily was read 
first'; where the subject is ex Si- 
cilia = ' that from Sicily ' (al iK rrjs 
2i(ceX/as), littercu being understood 
from the preceding section. Cp. 16 
and 25 a sinistris, and perhaps 1. 3 
tu Dei de corde. In Acts vi. 9 the 
O. L. (in Sabatier) has de conuen- 
tione...Alexandrinorum et a Cilicia 
et Asia — KoX tQiv aL-irh KiXiKiai Kai 
'A.(rla$. In something like the same 
way Rev. iii. 9 (Vulgate and O. L.) 
dado de synagoga Satanae. The rarity 
of the phrase lies in the want of qui 
or some such word to help it out. 
Thus in Heb. xiii. 24 the Vulgate 
^Adi%fratres to help out de Italia — 01 
airh Ti}s 'IroX^aj. Cicero helps out 
ex Platone et Aristotele by prefixing 
illi. The v. 1. ad dextros is a not 
too successful attempt to mend the 
unusual phrase. 

18. Mt. XXV. 34. 

20. diuites, going closely with 
reportate, gets an adverbial force : 
' receive richly.' The word is chosen, 
and thus placed, to contrast with 
pauperem in 19. reportare is often 
used by Cicero of gaining a prize or 
reward. 



HYMN CXX 



383 



25 



Laeti dicent: 'quando, Christe, pauperem te uidimus? 
te, rex magne, uel egentem miserati fuimus?' 
Magnus illis dicet iudex ' cum iuuistis pauperes, 
panem domum uestem dantes, me iuuistis humilem.' 
Nee tardabit a sinistris loqui iustus arbiter : 
' in gehennae maledicti flammas hinc discedite ; 
Obsecrantem me audire despexistis mendicum, 
nudo uestem non dedistis, neglexistis languidum.' 
Peccatores dicent : ' Christe, quando te uel pauperem, 
te, rex magne, uel infirmum contemnentes spreuimus?' 30 
Quibus contra iudex altus : ' mendicanti quamdiu 
opem ferre neglexistis, me spreuistis inprobi.' 
Retro ruent tunc iniusti ignes in perpetuos, 
uermis quorum non moritur, ignis nee restinguitur, 
Satan atro cum ministris quo tenetur carcere, 
fletus ubi mugitusque, strident omnes dentibus. 



35 



32 improbum Bb. 

^ 2 . faimus] for sumus of classical 
Latin. 

24. ' in the days of My humilia- 
tion.' 

25. a sinistris] eis qui a sinistris 
sunt, cp. 17 note. 

26. gehennae] one of the few 
Hebrew words retained in the Vul- 
gate (Mt. V. 22 etc.). 

2 7 . despexistis] ' you scorned , ' is 
followed by the inf. audire after the 
analogy of recuse and like verbs; 
and so ferre neglexistis in 32, cp. 
Schmalz p. 424. It looks as if the 
poet sounded the * in mendicus 
short. 

28. With ntido supply in thought 
mihi, with languidum supply me. 
For languidum ' sick ' cp. 84. 7. 

31. quamdiu] 'inasmuch as.' 
For the causal sense here and Mt. 
XXV. 40, 45 expressed by a conj. 
properly expressing time, cp. the 
use of quando 36. lo, and of dtim 
(e.g.) 110. II. 

32. inprobi] 103. 16. It goes 



36 fletu sibi Bb. 



closely with spreuistis, cp. note on 
20 diuites. 

33. retro] 'away'; the sense of 
' back ' is lost, as at times in 
the case of verbs compounded with 
re. 

34. Mk. ix. 43, cp. Is. Ixvi. 24. 
The usual reading ntorietur (which 
would be scanned as a trisyllable) 
does not match with restinguitur. 

35. ' where Satan is confined in 
his dark prison.' The atro forbids us 
to take quo with carcere. For the 
order of the words see note on uelut 
in 2. Satan is the form found in the 
Vulgate of the O.T. , but Satanas in 
N.T. 

carcere] Rev. xx. 9. 

36. mugitus] usually of the 
' lowing ' or ' bellowing ' of cattle, 
but cp. Mai. ii. 13 operiebatis...al- 
tare Domini fletu et mugitu ; Ae- 
theriae Peregr. 57 tantus rugitus et 
mugitus fit omnium hominum. 

Strident... dentibus] Mt. viii. 12 
stridor dentium. 



384 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

Tunc fideles ad caelestem sustoUentur patriam, 
chores inter angelorum regni petent gaudia. 
Urbis summae lerusalem introibunt gloriam, 
uera lucis atque pacis in qua fulget uisio, 40 

Xristum regem iam paterna claritate splendidum 
ubi celsa beatorum contemplantur agmina. 
Ydri fraudes ergo caue, infirmantes subleua, 
aurum temne, fuge luxus, si uis astra petere. 
Zona clara castitatis lumbos nunc praecingere, 45 

in occursum magni regis fer ardentes lampades. 
39 introibit Bb. 44 tene Bb^. 46 lapides Bb. 

37. BostoUentur] 44. 6. patriam ways Xpm. 

92. 2 note. 43. ydri] lit. 'a water snake.' 

38. petent] ' shall go into.' J. E. B. Mayor in the Journal of 

39. lerosalem is scanned as at Philology vii p. 314, speaking of 
119. I. this use of kydros = did^o\os, refers 

40. Cp. Sedul. Hymn. i. 107 f. to Prud. ^awar/. 614, Bede /^/««. 
uisiOf Christe, tui tormentum et et Epigr. IV. 20 vs. 21, de Mircu. 
poena malorum est, \ gloria cuncta Cuthb. c. 13. See the note on 31. 
bonis uisio, Christe, tui. There is a 85. 

reference to the meaning of the infirmantes] 'the sick.' infirmari 

name Jerusalem as at 119. r. in Vulgate often translates aaOeveiv, 

41. Cp. 3. I, 62b. I. Cp. note e.g. 2 Cor. xi. 29; cp. Ronsch 
on line 2 for the position of ubi. p. 370 f. 

The writer has to begin with Xpm 44. astra petere] ' to go to hea- 

on account of the alphabetical se- ven ' as at line 38. 

quence. It may be noted that in 45. lumbos... praecingere] 13. 

Mss Christus is always written XPC 17, i Pet. i. 13. 

or Xps (not Xristus), Christum al- 46. Mt. xxv. 6f., 41. 31 f. 



HyMNI de SANCTIS COMMUNES. HyMNS 121-123 

The three hymns which follow appear to be all from 
the same hand. The same words recur again and again. 

Hymn 121 

Eacdghjlvx77/i<^ Fbdhs Gabms Habcdefgh/3 Ibfhnopt Makx Vbcdls 
Rex gloriose martyrum, 
corona confitentium, 
2 coronas Hb Vs. confid. He. 
2. corona] 19. i note, 12a. 3. confitentium as distinguished from 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN CXXI 385 



qui respuentes terrea 
perducis ad caelestia, 

aurem benignam protinus 5 

adpone nostris uocibus ; 
tropaea sacra pangimus, 
ignosce quod deliquimus. 

tu uincis in martyribus, 

parcendo confessoribus, 10 

tu uince nostra crimina 

donando indulgentiam. 

3 dispuentes Gab Ha^/3^ terrena Ecdhv^ Fdh Gb's Hacef/3' Ihot Vbls. 
4 perducit Hh Vs. 5 benignus Ga, benigne Hcgh Ihn', benigna Hb. 

8 delinquimus E/i Fb Gs Hce Ih Vdls. 9 uinces Vs. 1 1 uinces Hd*. 
1 2 indulgentia Hb Mk. 



martyrum, those who confess Christ 
before men (Mt. x. 32), but die a 
natural death. 

3. terrea] The dictionaries quote 
Varro for this word, but cannot find 
it elsewhere. See 29. 25, 126. 7. 

5. protinus] as at 118. 18. 

7. 'We sing sacred triumphs.' 
tropaea 6. 26 note, pangimus as at 
33. J. 

8. quod deliquimus] Cp. note 
on 7. 26 delictum. 

gf. The statements in 9, 10 are 
balanced by the prayers in 11, 12. 
[I surmise that confitentes, confes- 
sores, here are not used in the strict 
and technical sense, — at least not of 
the 'confessors' as a class of de- 
parted saints, but of those who are 
now confessing Christ on earth, 
whether under persecution at the 
moment or not. It describes those 
who are singing the hymn. 

Thus in 2, it would mean that the 
King of the martyrs is our crown, 
while we confess Him and follow 



Him (and them) in preferring hea- 
venly things to earthly. In lo, a 
good deal depends upon the question 
whether the gerund is used with 
classical accuracy or not. If it is, 
then Christ's victory obtained in the 
person of the martyrs is displayed 
in mercy to weaker, but not un- 
faithful. Christians. This would be 
quite in accordance with early 
Christian teaching : see Benson 
Cyprian p. 89 foil. It would well 
suit the language of the hymn. If, 
however, this is considered too 
archaic, the gerunds must be taken 
like present participles, ' Thou con- 
querest in the martyrs, while sparing 
those who confess Thee.'] 

In martyribus] ' in the person of 
the martyrs,' cp. 14. 13 in illo mar- 
tyre. 

10. parcendo] abl., see p. 408. 

confessoribus] =. confitentium in 
2. For the thought cp. 114. 14. 

12. donando] abl., see p. 408. 



'5 



386 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

Hymn 122 

Abdg Eacdghjlij/i^ Fdhmnps Gabm/i Habcdefg/S Ibcfghnopt 
Makx Vbcdls 

Deus, tuorum militum 

sors et corona, praemium, 

laudes canentes martyris 

absolue nexu criminis. 

hie nempe mundi gaudia 5 

et blandimenta noxia 

caduca rite deputans 

peruenit ad caelestia. 

poenas cucurrit fortiter 

et sustulit uiriliter ; 10 

pro te effundens sanguinem 

aeterna dona possidet. 

ob hoc precatu supplici 

te poscimus, piissime, 

in hoc triumpho martyris 15 

dimitte noxam seruulis. 

3 martyres Gfi.. 4 nexum Fm Gab Ih'^ Mk. 5 hinc Mk. 

1 1 refundens Ab^ Ed Fmp lo Mk^ Vb, effudit Ga. pro te ustus craticula 
G/t. 13 supplices Mk Vdl. hie nos precantes supplices Ab. 

15 in hoc festo Laurentii G/i. 

1. sors] 'the portion,' Ps. xv. 5 sujtt. 

(pars), Ixxii. (Ixxiii. 26) 25 {pars), deputans] 115. 11. 

cxli. (cxlii.) 6 (portio). 9. cucunlt] 'he passed through.' 

corona] Cp. 121. 2. Verg. Aen. in. 191 has currimus 

praemium] perhaps a reminis- aequor. Stat. Theb. Hi. 116 comes 

cence of Gen. XV. i. [The arrange- nearer to the present example when 

ment of the words is strange, — the he says miserabile currwit certamen. 

connecting et between the first pair The metaphor is, no doubt, that of 

with no conjunction before prae- the toilsome race. Cp. 126. 16, and 

mium. hx& corona — /r. a single idea, Acta Archelai 39 circum (ace. of 

like a compound word ?] circus) cucurri. 

6. blandimenta could in classical 13. precatu] a late form, 
writers bear a good sense, but in 15. triumpho] We have had the 
Christian writers it always has a bad word applied to the death of Christ, 
one; cp. Prov. xxviii. 23, and the 4. 17,31. 87,33. 2; and to that of His 
use of blandus at 46. 14, 57. 12. servants, 11. 26, 13. 3, 14. 14. Here 

7. caduca] 'fleeting,' 'perish- it seems to mean 'the oiiy of triumph.' 
able.' Cic. Lael. 102 had already 16. noxam] 23. 12. 

sSiid res humanae fragiles cadttcaegue seruulis] 15. 31. 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN CXXIV 387 
Hymn 123 

Eacdghjlvij^ Fbhilnps Gm Hbcdefh/3 Ighnot Mk Vbs 
lesu redemptor omnium, 
perpes corona praesulum, 
in hac die clementius 
nostris faueto uocibus ; 
tui sacri qua nominis 5 

confessor almus claruit, 
cuius celebrat annua 
deuota plebs sollemnia. 
qui rite mundi gaudia 
huius caduca respuens, 10 

cum angelis caelestibus 
laetus potitur praemiis. 
huius benignus adnue 
nobis sequi uestigia, 

huius precatu seruulis 15 

dimitte noxam criminis. 

% coronam Mk. 3 dementia Ec. 4 precibus In. 5 cui 

E^ He Vs, qui Hd^. sacrique {pro s. qua) Fn Hbd'/3 lot Mk Vs, s. tui 
Hd'*, s. quo Fh^, sacrati Ecdhjv^ Hcef. 7 huius In, cui lo. celebret 

E^. 9 que (sc. quae) Vs. gloriam Ejv^ Hcef. 10 caducam Ejv0 

Hcef Ih. reputans Ed, deputans Hbd In Vbs. 12 laetis Eacd lo. 

13 cuius E^ lied lo. benigne Eacdh Fd* Hc^ Mk Vs. annua To'. 
15 precamur Ih. 

2. praesulum] see note on 13. 7 ; 121. 3. 

corona as in the two preceding 11. cael. goes with /ro'^/z/ZM. 

hymns. 14. sequi is the object of aiimu, 

5. qua] 'on which day.' for which cp. 60. 13. 

nominis] Mt. xix. 29. 15. precatu] 122. 13; seruulis, 

8. plebs] 36. 51. ib. 16; dim. nox. ih. 

10. caduca] 122. 7 ; respuens, 

HYMNI DE SANCTIS PROPRII. HyMNS I24-126 

Hymn 124 
This hymn seems to have been first assigned to 
Damasus by Baronius in his Martyrologium Romamim 
1603, but he says that he found it in collectaneis poetarum 

25—2 



388 EARLY LA TIN HYMNS 

Christiana rum. The authorship of Damasus was taken 
up by the editors of his works Sarazanius and Rivinus, 
but is now abandoned. The last to defend it was Kayser, 
and he doubtfully. Kayser makes one point {Beitrdge I 
p. 105 f.). The relics of St Andrew were translated from 
Patras to Constantinople a.d. 357, at which time Damasus 
was at Beroea, having accompanied pope Liberius into 
exile at that place. ?If the relics were carried by road, 
they would pass through, or near, Beroea. 

The key to the understanding of the hymn is given by 
the supposed meaning of the name Andrew (manful, 
noble) and by the fact that he was represented as in a 
special sense the preacher of the Cross : see Sarum 
Breviary (Procter and Wordsworth), Fasc. Ill col. 4 Ego 
crucis Christi seruus sum, et crucis tropheum optare potius 
debeo quam timere. Col. 7 Ego si patibulum crucis ex- 
pauescerem, crucis gloriam non praedicarem. 

As for the structure of the hymn, the first two lines 
are developed twice over in what follows. Decus s. n. is 
caught up in hinc te decorum,, and that again in Andrea, 
hoc.decorus', while nomenq. u. expr. is caught up in 
praedicat c. b. gloria, 3.nd that again in Christi ap., idem... 
tiomine. Then in the following stanzas the meaning of 
this last assertion is drawn out. 

E0 Fls Gem Hbdef Icfhin Makx Vcs 

Decus sacrati nominis 
nomenque uitam exprimens, 

I diem {pro decus) E^ Gc Hf Ih. hominis E0 Gc Hf. 2 uita Fl 

Gm Hdi In Vc. 

I f. ' How noble is thy sacred praedicat is to be taken sepa- 

name ! and how that name expresses rately, as often (e.g. at 39. 2), not 

thy life ! Ennobled with this (to with decorum. In other words, An- 

begin with), the glory of the drew is famous for his devotion to 

" Blessed Cross " extols thee.' the cross. 
hinc = with the name of Andrew ; 



LATER HYMNAL. HYMN CXXIV 389 



hinc te decorum praedicat 
crucis beatae gloria. 

Andrea, Christi apostole, 5 

hoc ipso iam uocabulo 
decorus, idem mystice 
signaris isto nomine ; 

quem cru# ad alta prouehit, 

crux quem beata diligit, 10 

cui crux amata praeparat 

3 hie Hbc li Ma Vs, sic Gm. praedicans Gm. 4 beata E^ Gc Hf 

li. gloriae In. 5 Andreas Hb Mk Vs. apostolus Hbe. 6 ipse E^ 
Hbd'ef Mk. in [pro iam) Hbd' In Vcs, om. iam He. 7 hisdem 

(isdem) Hbd Vs. 10 crucem beatam Hd^e, crucemque beata Hbd*. 

1 1 armata Ih, amat Gm. properat He» 



4. cracis beatae] It may be ob- 
served that the cross in this poem 
is not the particular cross on which 
St Andrew died, nor that of Christ 
alone. They are treated as one and 
the same. Here and in 1. 10 there is 
probably a direct reference to the 
legend (Sarum Brev. /// s. col. 21) 
O crux beata-, sine amore tuo ad 
illam regionem nulltis attingit, nul- 
lus ingreditur. Cp. col. 8. 

6. hoc ipso lam uoc.] = Andrea ; 
isto nomine— Christi. Thereby hangs 
a tale. The word signaris ' signed, 
or sealed ' gives a hint of it, because 
the sign of the cross was made on 
Christians to seal them as His. 
Andrew, by his crucifixion and his 
devotion to the cross, was thus 
sealed beyond others. But there is, 
I believe, more intended in this 
' mystic ' sealing with the name of 
Christ. It was well known to Latin- 
speaking Christians that X, the 
cross-shaped letter, stood for 'Christ.' 
Thus Tertullian de Bapt. 8 says that 
when